Nokia has won a lawsuit against Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, among others. As a result, there is a threat of a sales ban in Germany for Daimler’s brands, although the group does not expect it to come to that.
Daimler AG has been found guilty by the German court in Mannheim for the illegal use of software that tech company Nokia has patented. Nokia filed a lawsuit about this and the judge has now ruled in favor of the Finnish company. The software with which Mercedes-Benz cars, among others, connect to mobile networks would have been used without purchasing a license from Nokia. It is probably not a one-to-one pirated copy of Nokia software, but the operation of such technology is patented by Nokia. Daimler is therefore obliged to pay Nokia when using such systems.
The judge has according to various media, including Automotive News, stipulated that Daimler Nokia must pay compensation and in future may no longer use this technology without payment. It must therefore look for alternative ways or pay for it. However, Daimler does not give up and appeals. Thanks to this ruling, Nokia is now in theory already in a position to try to enforce a sales ban in the German courts. To do so, however, it has to file a lawsuit with collateral of no less than € 7 billion, in case that case is lost and Daimler is subsequently entitled to compensation. It is therefore very questionable whether Nokia will dare to do that. Daimler says Automotive News know that it is not yet concerned about a possible sales ban.
According to Nokia, the choice for Daimler is simple: just pay for the technology and then the parties will work out. According to the company, the current state of affairs is unacceptable: “(…) it underscores the principle that innovative companies should receive fair remuneration when their inventions are used. We hope that Daimler will now accept that obligation and license buys under fair conditions. By working together we get further, “said Nokia Technologies top woman Jenni Lukander.