Nokia: Qualcomm should be patently exhausted

New front in European war

Nokia and Qualcomm's theatre of combat has widened - the long-running patent spat between the pair has now been taken to Germany and the Netherlands.

The handset maker has filed a patent exhaustion case against Qualcomm in both countries, asking the country's courts to declare that Qualcomm's European patents are exhausted in respect to products placed on the EU market with a Qualcomm licence, in this instance chipsets supplied by Texas Instruments.

Should the courts agree, Qualcomm could not enforce its patents in relation to Nokia handsets that carry Texas Instruments chipsets holding Qualcomm licences.

The pair have had an enduring dispute over patents, after negotiations between the two companies over renewing a licensing agreement broke down.

The legal battle is ongoing in both the US and the UK, although the action taken by Qualcomm at the US International Trade Commission was recently suspended.