Delhi HC asks Oppo to deposit 23% of $230 million in 'royalty' case by Nokia

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Delhi High Court on Monday asked Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo to deposit 23% of $230 million towards «royalty» for alleged infringement of Nokia's three standard essential patents (SEPs) in cellular technology. The three SEPs are said to be necessary to make cellular systems 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G compliant. A division bench led by Justice Manmohan, while setting aside the single judge's November order that rejected Nokia's claim for royalty, said nearly two years have lapsed since Nokia filed the case and not a «single farthing» has been paid so far by Oppo.

The HC said Oppo being an ex-licensee had paid royalty for three years without raising any dispute over the essentiality or validity of Nokia's patents at any stage prior to the present litigation and had offered to make interim payments and even filed a suit for determination of FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) rate. The high court said «this court cannot but draw a conclusion that a prima facie case of infringement is made out». «However, it shall be open to the implementer/Oppo to lead evidence during trial to rebut this presumption/prima facie view,» it said.

It said that examining various aspects on merits would take time. «In the interregnum, the infringing party (Oppo) would freely sell its devices using such SEPs. If no security is offered during the interregnum, such party benefits, to the disadvantage of the SEP holder as well as the other willing licensees and gets an unfair competitive edge in the market,» it said.