In a  fit of pique, Qualcomm hs announced it’s suing Nokia for infringement of 11 of Qualcomm’s patents.  Worse, these aren’t trivial patents that have allegedly been infringed: they are “patents that are essential for the manufacture or use of equipment that complies with the GSM, GPRS and EDGE cellular standards (the GSM family of standards).” So, pretty fundamental to the operation of a mobile phone, then! Of course, Nokia’s latest phones are so feature rich, it’s doubtful whether they’ll even be used as mobile phones, so they could remove the connectivity features, and who’d notice?! Personally, if I had a Nokia N92 and was was watching mobile TV with it (which doesn’t use GSM for reception), there’s no way I’d stop watching just to answer the phone - TV’s far more important!

 

The patent infringement is a complex case, as all telephony standards, such as GSM, EDGE, etc., are just that: standards. And unfortunately in this case, part of the standard involves technology that Qualcomm patented before it became a standard.  In other words, Nokia (and other companies) had no choice but to (allegedly!) infringe the patent if they were going to adhere to the standard.  Qualcomm state that it is “prepared to offer licenses under its essential GSM/GPRS/EDGE patents on fair and reasonable terms free from unfair discrimination to any company that requests one.” In other words, this won’t stop Nokia making mobile phones - it’s just that Qualcomm wants its slice of the pie. One for the lawyers I think. Just hope it doesn’t lead to a round of suing that could stifle innovation, as Nokia are on a real roll at the moment.

[Source: prnewswire]