The world's top mobile phone maker, Nokia, has won its second patent case against US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc in a week, both companies said, but the long-running battle is far from over.
Qualcomm had claimed Nokia had infringed two of its European patents in Nokia's GSM mobile phones, and sought an injunction in the British High court that would have stopped Nokia selling products using the GSM patents in question in Britain.
The judge ruled the first patent was invalid for "lack of novelty" and "obviousness", and four claims of the second patent were invalid for "lack of inventive step". Qualcomm said on Monday it was disappointed by the ruling but that the British legal battle was a side-issue in the larger dispute between the two firms in 3G patents.
Nokia said it was pleased with the court's decision. The two companies have been at legal loggerheads since they failed to renew a key technology licensing pact that expired on April 9, 2007. Analysts have estimated Nokia pays around $500 million to Qualcomm annually for patents, and it wants to reduce the sum.