Nokia may be embroiled in an onerous legal stoush with Apple in the US but in the UK it has won a patent case against German patent licensing firm IPCom.
The court victory ends a long-running dispute in which IPCom had attempted to charge Nokia for using the GSM patents. The court has found that the claims were unreasonable.
IPCom originally acquired the patents from Bosch, which created the GSM patents between the 1980s and 2000. IPCom has been trying to get over €12 billion ($17.1b) in licensing fees from Nokia for patents.
Nokia, which claims the ruling is a great victory, now aims to recover the bulk of its legal costs, but had declined to comment on how much money would be involved.
IPCom managing director Bernhard Frohwitter told media that the company would appeal the court ruling, as it believed that the patents are valid. The legal wrangle continues in Germany however.
Meanwhile Apple is seeking to block US imports of Nokia mobile phones by filing a new patent- infringement complaint against Nokia with the US International Trade Commission in Washington.
The complaint follows Nokia’s lead as the vendor started the year attempting to block the Apple imports, including the iPhone.