Amazon stops sale of all Fire TV Sticks 4K in Germany

Amazon is stopping sales of the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K in Germany. Only the cheaper models Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite with Full HD resolution are still available, as well as the more expensive Fire TV Cube.

However, thanks to duty-free shipping within the EU, this is not too much of a problem for Germans: all Fire TV Sticks are still available in neighboring countries. If necessary, you can order one from Amazon.nl – where they are cheaper than from the many eBay stores that take advantage of the situation. A VPN is not necessary for ordering.

The reason for the sales stop is a patent lawsuit filed by Nokia in relation to the H.264 video codec and the newer H.265 aka HVEC. They compress videos and therefore save bandwidth when streaming. Amazon is said to be using technology from patent EP2375749, but not paying. According to Amazon, sticks with H.265 support are affected by the sales ban for the time being - the codec is deactivated on the 1080p sticks, which is why they are still available. Nokia has been taking action against device manufacturers for years and not against chip manufacturers such as Mediatek. Back in 2020, Lenovo temporarily withdrew notebooks, desktop PCs and tablets from the market following a Nokia patent lawsuit.

Allegedly unfair license terms

The Munich I Regional Court also ruled in favor of Nokia against Amazon at first instance. It is considered to be plaintiff-friendly in patent law. However, the judgment is not yet final due to an appeal. Amazon's and Lenovo's argument at the time was that the licenses were far too expensive in an industry comparison.

Amazon has minimally adjusted a statement from September with a change in time form:

"We believe the Munich District Court's decision is wrong and are confident that the situation will be resolved soon. The ruling has no impact on existing customers and a wide range of Fire TV devices, including our best-selling Fire TV Stick, are still available on Amazon.de. We are always willing to pay a fair price for patent licenses and have worked with a number of companies to license video patents of this type. Nokia is asking more than all of these companies combined and has rejected our fair and industry standard offer. We regret that Nokia is taking these actions to limit customer choice."

Nokia has nevertheless decided to have the judgement provisionally enforced. In return, the company must deposit a security of an unknown amount. If Amazon is found to be right in the second instance, the security deposit will go to the sales platform as compensation. Further decisions are expected by the end of the year, including in the US, where a similar lawsuit is pending. Alternatively, both companies could also reach an out-of-court settlement.

Nokia's statement on the issue:

"On 19 September 2024, the Munich Regional Court ruled that Amazon is using video technologies patented by Nokia in its streaming devices (such as the Fire TV Stick), and is selling them unlawfully and without a license. The court also found that Nokia had behaved fairly in its negotiations with Amazon. It issued an injunction prohibiting the sale of Amazon's streaming devices in Germany. The sale of these streaming devices in Germany will therefore be suspended from 7 October. For Nokia, litigation is always a last resort. Our goal is for Amazon's customers to benefit from our extensive investments in research and development in the multimedia sector. But the innovation ecosystem collapses if patent holders are not fairly compensated for the use of their technologies, as it becomes much more difficult for innovative companies to finance the development of the next generation of technology."

(mma)