Case Overview:
Many of the cases we have dealt with involve lengthy court proceedings and appeals--often reaching all the way up to the Supreme Court. Nokia and HTC's patent litigation case is much simpler: utilizing a settlement deal to end the smartphone battle. A Verge article mentioned that Nokia "signed a patent and 'technology collaboration agreement' with HTC"--effectively ending the patent litigation which was going on for months. In this case, HTC is paying Nokia for damages and often licenses Nokia's patents as part of their business ventures.
Technologies involved:
Nokia did not only sue HTC as part of this patent litigation case, and also sued RIM as well as ViewSonic as part of the 45 patents covering technologies such as "antennas, radios, and power management, as well as software features like multitasking, navigation, app stores, retrieving email attachments" among others.
Settlement versus Courts:
This patent case demonstrates the ability for companies to end lengthy and costly patent proceedings and instead choose to settle and drop the case. It is likely that the settlement offer is in the multimillions--and the specifics of the amount of the damages remain unclear. HTC did respond publicly, however, and mentioned that the company is 'pleased to come to this agreement, which will enable [them] to stay focused on innovation for consumers'. While Apple and Samsung have chosen to utilize the courts to iron out their patent litigation disputes, other companies such as HTC and Nokia have found settling it with one another to be more effective.
Source:
[1] The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/7/5390612/nokia-and-htc-sign-patent-agreement
This was an interesting case! I wanted to write about it, but couldn't find enough info, happy to see you did better than me. It is interesting to see that Nokia is heavily involved in the mobile patent litigation business, even though they don't sell many smartphones.
ReplyDeleteHey Sid! I really liked how you organized your post, and I thought that your choice of case was also interesting. I think settling out of court is an excellent way for companies who actually participate in creating innovative technology to focus on, well, creating innovative technology and not petty litigation suits. I think HTC and Nokia realized that it is useless to waste their time on these cases and focus on their growth, and so they gained a lot more respect from me. This is similar to Microsoft's philosophy of trying to make friends in the industry by offering licenses instead of slamming patent cases at competitors--they get money through licenses and save the time and energy in these cases. This is opposite to patent trolls who sue just for the sake of it, and hinder growth in the industry. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteSrushti
And adding on, I think maybe you could have researched the case a little bit more and talked about the patent in question, but I totally understand that you were trying to focus on a different aspect of the case by showcasing another strategy used by companies. I would have personally liked to look at the patent as well, so even if you don't talk about it, may be you could just mention it in your post. Thanks again!
ReplyDelete