Mercedes-Benz may face German sales ban after Nokia wins patent ruling

Daimler AG could face a sales ban in Germany after Nokia Oyj won a court ruling in a patent dispute, giving the Finnish company leverage in its fight over mobile technology in automobiles.
 

Daimler, owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, violated Nokia’s mobile-technology patents in its cars, judges in Mannheim said Tuesday. The ruling would allow Nokia to stop Daimler from selling vehicles in Germany, but doing so would require Nokia to post collateral of $8.3 billion in a separate proceeding.
 

“We cannot understand the verdict of the Mannheim court and will appeal,” Daimler said in an emailed statement. “We don’t assume there’ll be a sales ban.” The ruling goes to the heart of how technology must be licensed for mobile-telecommunication systems that are standard features in most modern cars.
 

The Mannheim court said it had to side with Nokia because Daimler wasn’t willing to abide by existing rules for so-called standard essential patents.
 

“The facts show that Daimler and its supporters in the case aren’t willing to take a license,” the court said in a statement.
 

“Neither Daimler nor its supporters were seriously willing to take a license“ from Nokia under the industrywide fair-terms standards.