Amazon loses legal dispute: Some Fire TV models face sales ban
Nokia has won a patent dispute against Amazon before the Munich Regional Court and could now stop the sale of certain models in its range of players.
(Image: Amazon)
- Nico Jurran
At the end of 2023, the Finnish telecommunications group Nokia sued the online retailer Amazon in various countries for alleged patent infringement. At issue were multimedia patents such as the H.264 and H.265 compression methods, which are also used in video streaming. The Munich Regional Court, which had to deal with the claims in Germany, has now ruled in Nokia's favor.
In its lawsuit, Nokia demanded a ban on the sale of devices from Amazon's "Fire TV" series and damages of an undisclosed amount for the unlicensed use of the patented technologies. The ruling does not automatically stop the sale of Fire TV players in Germany. Rather, Nokia would have to actively assert the injunctive relief that has now been awarded. Furthermore, not all models in the range would be affected, as they support different compression methods and some of them are not covered by the current patent dispute.
Amazon has already commented on the ruling. The official statement reads: "We believe the Munich District Court's decision is wrong and are confident that the situation will soon be resolved. The ruling will have no impact on existing customers and a wide range of Fire TV devices will continue to be 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 these companies combined and has rejected our fair and industry standard offer. We regret that Nokia is trying to limit customer choice."
Implications
Whether Nokia will enforce the sales ban is currently open – also because Amazon is likely to appeal against the ruling and the Finns may have to compensate for potential loss of revenue in the event of a defeat in the next instance. Accordingly, Nokia would also have to deposit a high security deposit to enforce the injunction. It is certain that the ruling will have no impact on customers who already own an Amazon device and that the Fire TV experience will not change.
Another legal dispute is currently ongoing in the UK regarding the conditions under which Nokia may grant licenses for them to be considered fair. A ruling is expected next year.
(nij)
