This lawsuit is taking place in Germany over the EP1312974 patent. The author of Foss Patents describes the patent, saying that it "covers the idea of a light guide integrated into a display that leads light to a sensor. The brighter it is outside, the more the background light of the display has to be turned up so as to adjust to the needs of the user's eyes. Conversely, if you use your phone in the dark, you don't need a bright screen, since it would hurt your eyes in that scenario." Nokia is asserting that HTC infringes on this patent. In addition to suing them in Germany, they have sued their equivalent U.S Patent 7,106,293 also in the United States.
If Nokia were to win this lawsuit in Germany, HTC would have to make changes to their hardware or stop selling their products in Germany. Although it would be best if HTC could come up with an alternative method for their products, the author discusses how because that feature is expected by every mobile phone user nowadays, HTC will most likely have to start paying royalties to Nokia so they can continue using the method.
Like every other lawsuit, HTC is trying its best to defend itself by claiming that this patent is invalid. The author says that this case will come to an end by late 2014 or early 2015, so we'll see what happens!
It is interesting to consider why there are so many ongoing patent wars in Germany. I wonder if they have a stronger sense of intellectual property protection.
ReplyDeleteWhat I still want to understand is how Nokia stop the innovation? Where did their core of innovative engineers go and why did they seem to leave or stop innovating? I believe with the explosion of iOS seriously killed Nokia!
ReplyDeleteThe patent that Nokia is asserting must be very old or more complicated than stated. This seems like a non-novel device at this point. I wonder if Google is going to step in to help HTC as a third party.
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