Daimler Requests the EU Antitrust Regulators to Probe Nokia’s Communication Patent

Daimler

Reported by Reuters, German carmaker Daimler has complained to EU antitrust regulators about Nokia patents essential to car communications, a move underlining the tensions between tech companies and the car industry on the use of key technologies.

"We hope for  clarification on how essential patents for telecommunications standards are to be licensed in the automotive industry," the car maker said in a statement on Saturday. "Fair and non-discriminatory access to these standards for all users of the essential patents for telecommunications standards is a key prerequisite for the development of new products and services for connected driving."

Up to now, the European Commission has confirmed that it has received complaints from Daimler. As the accused, Nokia stated that Daimler is seeking manners to avoiding problems of license invalidity. "Though we offer a wide range of options for automakers, including through their tier 1 suppliers, Daimler has resisted taking a licence to the Nokia inventions it is already using," Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said.

Nokia is making a lot of profits from its patent business, many of which are legacies of the market-leading mobile phone maker. In the past 10 years, there have burst a lot of disputes on patents among Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm and so on all over the world. In analysis, it’s speculated that the patent war could spread to the auto industry.

April 1, 2019

Source: PingWest

photo from: daimler.com