The patent annoyance from HMD Global in Germany has been making the rounds in the media for days. It was often said that Nokia smartphones would be taken off the market. But this is not the case. A statement from Nokia now creates clarity!
- HMD Global is being sued in multiple lawsuits by VoiceAgeEVS LLC
- The accusation is that HMD devices with EVS support infringe VoiceAgeEVS patents
- HMD will appeal and will remove various Nokia models from its website until further notice
Discomfort for HMD because of an alleged patent infringement: The Finnish company has temporarily removed most of the Nokia smartphones in Germany from its online store as a result of a patent dispute over a voice codec for Voice-over-LTE. You can only officially get the latest models at the moment.
Patent dispute with VoiceAgesEVS
VoiceAgesEVS is a patent administrator that is currently involved with several smartphone manufacturers. It is about a specific EVS voice codec (Enhanced Voice Services) for VolTE telephony. The Canadian company holds various patents that HMD Global allegedly infringes on multiple devices.
VoiceAgesEVS’ lawsuit has now been upheld in a German court, and HMD Global will appeal. For the time being, however, the Finns have taken most of the Nokia cellphones off their own site. The facts of the matter were wrongly presented several times in the media, where there was talk of a sales freeze.
You can still find the new Nokia G21 on the HMD Global website. / © HMD Global
We too had taken over a corresponding news post from Winfuture.de. In its statement, HMD Global states that it will remove EVS support from the relevant smartphones so that they can be offered again. The company is hopeful that it will soon be able to offer its full range again in its online store. Here you can see the complete statement from HMD Global:
As the owner of a significant patent portfolio, HMD takes intellectual property rights seriously and is willing to offer and accept licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) terms. HMD is a defendant in several lawsuits brought by a company called VoiceAgeEVS LLC in various jurisdictions, including Germany. We are disappointed with the verdict in the VoiceAge lawsuit in Germany in December and will be appealing.
HMD remains confident about the outcome of the entire litigation and will continue to provide consumers with devices, accessories and services they love, trust and want to keep.
In light of the excessive non-FRAND license fees publicly demanded by VAEVS, HMD has already taken action to remove support for EVS from the products sold in Germany to allow further sales. HMD does not anticipate that the removal of EVS functionality will have a significant impact on its business. HMD continues to sell an extensive product portfolio in Europe and will soon offer a complete product portfolio on its websites.
As soon as something happens at HMD Global, we will let you know here at NextPit. Until then, let us know what you think of this story – and what you think about it in general – in the comments patent trolls patent administrator thinks.
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