After Arbitration Win, Nokia Seeks to Ban BlackBerry Sales

Nokia has announced that an arbitrator has ruled in its favor in a patent dispute with Nokia. As a result, it is requesting a ban on sales of RIM’s BlackBerry devices in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.

The BBC reported, “Nokia says an earlier ruling means RIM is not allowed to produce devices that offer a common type of wi-fi connectivity until it agrees to pay license fees. All current Blackberries would be affected. RIM had no comment.”

According to DailyTech’s Shane McGlaun, “The patents at the heart of this dispute have to do with WLAN technologies typically marketed under the Wi-Fi brand. ‘This could have a significant financial impact to RIM, as all BlackBerry devices support WLAN,’ IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said.”

Michelle Maisto from eWeek ran a statement from Nokia, which explained, “Nokia and RIM agreed to a cross-license for standards-essential cellular patents in 2003, which was amended in 2008. In 2011, RIM sought arbitration, arguing that the license extended beyond cellular essentials. In November 2012, the arbitration tribunal ruled against RIM. It found that RIM was in breach of contract and is not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products without first agreeing [to] royalties with Nokia. In order to enforce the Tribunal’s ruling, we have now filed actions in the U.S., U.K. and Canada with the aim of ending RIM’s breach of contract.”

A report by The Canadian Press noted, “RIM’s shares (TSX:RIM) dropped to as low as $10.15 in early trading Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange but recouped some of the loss. They were down 22 cents, or about two per cent, at $10.48 after 30 minutes of trading.”