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The sale of Vivo was blocked in Germany

12. 04. 2023 Wednesday / By: Robert Denes / Industrial / Exact time: BST / Print this page

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V ivo's sales in Germany, as in the case of OPPO and OnePlus, were stopped due to infringement of Nokia's patents. The well-known Chinese smartphone brand Vvvo is forced to suspend the distribution of its products in Germany until it reaches an agreement with Nokia.

The Finnish company actually accused vivo of infringing patents related to 4G communication technologies and not complying with intellectual property rules.

The Mannheim court decided to block the distribution of vivo products in Germany, as it did for Oppo and OnePlus last year. In fact, it seems that these companies were too adventurous to use the technologies needed for the Nokia-owned 4G communication standards without entering into licensing agreements for the use of the patents.

However, vivo responded by saying that it respects intellectual property and has already signed license agreements with several leading companies in the mobile device sector. The Chinese company also highlighted that it has tried to mutually renew the licenses with Nokia, but so far without success.

The situation becomes even more complicated when vivo accuses Nokia of not fulfilling its obligation to offer licenses under FRAND terms, i.e. fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory. In any case, the regional court in Mannheim decided that vivo must suspend the distribution of its products in Germany until it reaches an agreement with Nokia.

However, vivo reiterated that it intends to file an appeal and will try to reach a settlement with Nokia to end the dispute. Meanwhile, the Chinese company clarified that its products will continue to be available in Germany, but through unofficial channels.

The case seems to have no impact outside of Germany, but for vivo it is a serious blow to its ambitious long-term development plan for the German market. The Chinese company must now prove that it meets international intellectual property standards in order to re-enter a strategic market such as Germany, but without having to pay exorbitant costs for using other manufacturers' patents.

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