Another day, another smartphone patent lawsuit. This time Nokia has sued RIM in the US, the UK and Canada, alleging breach of a cross-licensing contract.
The lawsuits seek an order enjoining RIM from selling products with WLAN technology in the markets without agreeing to pay royalties to Nokia, AAP reported.
Nokia's suit is based on the ruling of a Swedish arbitration tribunal, which this week held that RIM must agree to the terms of a patent licensing deal with Nokia before selling Wi-Fi enabled devices.
The Swedish proceedings were the result of a request for arbitration by RIM in 2011. RIM had sought to have a patent cross-licensing deal entered into with Nokia in 2003 – and amended in 2008 – extended to cover WLAN intellectual property.
Analysts interviewed by Reuters said they expect RIM to seek a royalty agreement to license Nokia's patents in the wake of the Swedish decision, to ward off any threats of sales bans.
Sweden, Canada and the US are signatories to a convention allowing the rulings of arbitration courts in one country to apply to the other jurisdiction.
News of the lawsuits came a day after Ericsson revealed it is suing Samsung for also allegedly failing to agree to a fair licensing agreement covering Ericsson wireless patents.
Besides timing, both cases share the similarity of encompassing patents covering important wireless connectivity technologies.