Amazon and HP aren’t “playing by the rules,” said Nokia’s chief licensing officer
Nokia has filed lawsuits in the U.S., Germany, India, the U.K. and the European Unified Patent court against Amazon and HP for allegedly infringing several of its patents related to video streaming.
According to Nokia, Amazon’s Prime Video and Twitch streaming services, as well as HP’s computers, violate its patents related to streaming video compression, delivery and other technology.
In a blog post, Nokia’s Chief Licensing Officer Arvin Patel stated that litigation was not Nokia’s first choice and that the Finnish company has had patent discussions with both defendants “for a number of years,” adding, however, that “sometimes litigation is the only way to respond to companies who choose not to play by the rules.”
He also explained specifically that Nokia is seeking compensation from Amazon and HP for “the use of… key inventions,” whose royalties, he said, the company plans to combine with additional company funding to reinvest in the development of next-generation multimedia technology.
In 2017, Nokia Apple and Nokia settled all lawsuits related to a legal battle over which patents Apple was actually using versus which ones were covered under their agreement. The settlement resulted in a multi-year patent license agreement and an undisclosed up-front cash payment from Apple as well as additional revenue during the multi-year term of the agreement.
Currently, Nokia’s patent portfolio includes more than 20,000 patents, with approximately 5,500 of those considered key to the development and adoption of 5G services, according to the company.
