The Chinese manufacturer draws conclusions from two court decisions. Oneplus is also affected. A farewell to Germany is not up for debate.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has stopped selling its smartphones in Germany for the time being after defeats in two patent infringement proceedings. On Friday, the Munich I district court ruled that Oppo infringes two of Nokia’s patents and imposed a sales ban. The manufacturer meanwhile denies media reports that he will withdraw completely from the German market.
The district court in Munich ruled on Friday that Oppo’s smartphones infringe two standard-relevant Nokia patents that cover technical processes for improving audio signals (EP2080193) and more efficient data transmission in mobile networks (EP3557917) describe. Two injunctions had previously been issued by the Mannheim district court against Oppo and its sister company Oneplus.
No smartphones on the site
Apparently, Oppo already reacted on Friday and deleted the product information for its smartphones on the German website. As a result of the judgment, Oppo is initially not allowed to advertise or deliver any affected products to retailers. There are currently no smartphones in the German online store of Oneplus, which is also being attacked by Nokia at the same time. Devices that are already at the dealers can still be sold.
Oppo meanwhile contradicts media reports that it will completely withdraw from the German market. “We will not leave the German market,” explains a spokesman to voonze online. “Our long-term commitment to the German market remains unchanged and we are proactively working with the relevant parties to resolve the ongoing matter.”
The manufacturer emphasizes that only smartphones are affected by the sales ban. “Apart from the fact that the sale and marketing of certain products has been suspended through Oppo Germany’s official channels, Oppo will continue to operate in Germany,” says the spokesman. Other products such as headphones or wearables remain on sale, and updates are also provided. Oneplus could not be reached for comment at short notice.
Estimates that Oppo and Oneplus have a combined market share of over 10 percent in Germany and that retailers are now losing a significant part of the supply can be considered exaggerated. According to the latest market research surveys, Oppo has a market share of almost 9 percent worldwide – including Oneplus. In Germany, however, the actual share of both brands is likely to be significantly lower. Oppo does not want to give specific numbers.
Further decisions are pending
Nevertheless, the sales ban based on the Nokia patents is a setback for the manufacturer’s German business. Especially since further trouble is imminent: On Tuesday, two judgments are pending from the Düsseldorf Regional Court, which deal with other patents. In addition, Nokia has also sued the manufacturer Vivo in Germany, which is also part of the Chinese BBK group.
Oppo itself has an extensive patent portfolio and has concluded numerous mutual license agreements with partners such as Nokia in the past, for example for LTE smartphones. Nokia sued Oppo in the summer of 2021, stating that the Chinese manufacturer had rejected an extension and expansion to 5G. Nokia has demanded an “unreasonably high” fee for this, says the Oppo spokesman.
Oppo is currently running some counter-claims against Nokia and other attackers. Most recently, the Chinese manufacturer, together with HMD Global, was able to achieve success before the Federal Patent Court, which declared large parts of an audio patent that the patent exploiter VoiceAge EVS was bringing against the company to be void. VoiceAge had already successfully filed other patents against HMD and thus temporarily banned the sale of numerous HMD smartphones (“Nokia”).
The various procedures are about standard-relevant patents and fair conditions for their licensing. The question of what is “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND) is often disputed in court. In Germany, companies are quickly threatened with a ban on selling their products – which has recently prompted automobile manufacturers to buy so-called pool licenses for their vehicle production. Oppo cannot fall back on such a license pool here.
