Nokia withdraws patent complaint against IPCom at EU

Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, withdrew an antitrust complaint at the European Commission after German patent licensing company IPCom GmbH & Co KG said it’s committed to licensing its technology under fair terms.

Nokia said in a statement today that it has achieved its “main objective” in the complaint, which was to make sure that IPCom offers its mobile-phone patents under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

Nokia complained to the commission in October 2008 that IPCom was demanding unfair terms for technology used in handheld devices. Nokia wanted the Brussels-based antitrust authority to intervene and ensure that companies that acquire patents that are part of a standard abide by the same fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms as the previous owners.

Espoo, Finland-based Nokia is embroiled in a long-running dispute with IPCom over patent royalties. Munich-based IPCom is suing Nokia in Mannheim, Germany, alleging that Nokia is violating its mobile-communications patents that were owned by Robert Bosch GmbH.

IPCom said last month that it’s “fully prepared and ready” to abide by licensing terms for essential patents for mobile devices made by Bosch. IPCom in 2007 bought Bosch’s patents that were part of a high-speed mobile communications standard.

Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd had no immediate comment.

Bernhard Frohwitter, managing director of IPCom, said that deciding whether a company has abused its patent monopoly should be up to national courts rather the commission.

“Whenever it becomes complicated, we should look at proven means, which are the national courts,” he said. “There is no reason not to leave it to experienced, well-trained judges in Germany and England. They can handle this.”