OPPO and OnePlus suspend sales in Germany following Nokia's patent-law win

OnePlus fans in Germany continue to lack for official online pre-order listings for the latest 10T flagship smartphone, as its parent company is locked in a legal dispute with Nokia. The brand can still sell some of its wearables and charging accessories in the country; however, its phones and Watch remain off-limits as the Finnish company asserts that they make unauthorized use of its IP for their mobile data functions.

The 2 patents in question are the European Patents Office- (EPO) recognized pieces of IP EP 35 57 917 and EP 20 80 193, which concern device wake status during intermittent communications and the conservation of estimated pitch-lag in audio signals respectively.

They are also exhibits in Nokia's legal case brought before Munich's Regional Court as part of an argument that OPPO continued to use them without payment or a license of any kind after the last relevant contract between the 2 companies expired.

The Regional Court found in its favor, an event upon which OPPO withdrew from the German market - of its own volition, reportedly, rather than appear to have done so in response to a cease and desist demand accompanying the suit.

The Chinese OEM has also publicly stated that it is "proactively working with the relevant parties to resolve the ongoing matter"; however, it also argues that Nokia has stipulated an "unreasonably high contract renewal fee", which, for it, is a major obstacle in resuming its "long-term commitment to the German market"

Nevertheless, in the case of Nokia v OPPO, the former definitely seems to be winning at present. On the other hand, it has had a subsequent case involving 2 additional patents (EP 17 41 183 and EP 17 28 352), which it had brought before a different regional court (that of Düsseldorf) suspended, as Germany's Federal Patent Court has yet to determine its validity.