Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) won the preliminary round of its patent-infringement case against HTC Corp (TPE:2498) in the United States. International Trade Commission Judge Thomas Pender said in a notice posted today on the Washington agency’s website that HTC was found guilty of breaching two of Nokia’s patent rights, but no evidence was found for breach of another patent.
HTC violated two patents
A judge has given the verdict after the review conducted by the six member commission. The final verdict will be out by January 23.
HTC Corp (TPE:2498) was found guilty of violating the patent related to the method of removing errors in radio signals, and the patent for a process to manage different radio frequencies. However, HTC did not infringe the third patent of Nokia, which was related to the process of transferring the data from a computer to a mobile phone.
In May 2012, Nokia filed a lawsuit against HTC Corp (TPE:2498) accusing it of infringing nine patents related to mobile phones. Nokia has filed the suit that takes into ambit the HTC phones, including the Amaze 4G, One S, Rhyme and Vivid, as well as the Flyer and Jetstream tablet computers, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Nokia using its patent portfolio
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), in recent years, has dropped from the status of being the world’s biggest mobile maker for fourteen years, and lost its crown to Samsung in 2011. The Finnish smartphone maker is using patent licensing to recuperate some of its cash shelled out on phone innovation. Patent Portfolio is owned by Nokia even after the deal to sell its mobile and device arm to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) for $7.2 billion.
Mark Durrant, a spokesman of Nokia, said that Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is satisfied with the result that came from accusing HTC Corp (TPE:2498) of infringing two patents and “we will reserve further comment until we have had the chance to study the judgment in detail.”
HTC expecting final verdict in favor
Grace Lei, HTC General Counsel, said in an email that the company was happy with the court findings that HTC has not infringed the third patent. Lei said that the company will expect a final determination by the commission in favor of HTC.
“In the meantime, HTC will keep its alternative plans ready to ensure no business disruption.”
HTC, the most dominant smartphone maker in Taiwan, is also toiling to gain market shares in the United States and other geographies, and is presently refurbishing its marketing strategies and executives.
