Taiwanese device maker HTC denies it faces a ban on shipments in Germany, despite widespread reports the firm must bow to demands by patent licensing firm IPCom.
A spokeswoman today confirmed to Telecoms Europe.net the vendor is standing by a November 27 statement that claims it will suffer no ill effects from backing out of a lawsuit with IPCom. The statement claims the case relates to a discontinued 3G smartphone and has no bearing on future device shipments into Germany.
HTC’s statement confirms it withdrew an appeal against a previous ruling in IPCom’s favor because Germany’s Federal Patent Court “had previously held the relevant claim of the patent to be invalid.” Furthermore, “IPCom’s original injunction covered only one HTC handset, which is now no longer sold in Germany.”
The vendor also states it has now changed how it implements the UMTS standard, meaning that even if German courts put an injunction back in place “it will have no impact on HTC’s sales in Germany.”
HTC issued the statement in response to reports IPCom is demanding it stops selling all smartphones in Germany. The patent licensing firm is threatening to issue fines until a block on shipments is implemented, The Guardian reports.