Finnish telecom company Nokia has sued e-commerce giant Amazon and tech giant HP for the unauthorised use of Nokia’s video-related technologies in its streaming services and devices. While the case against HP has been filed in the US, the lawsuit against Nokia is in five global jurisdictions, including the US and India.
“We have commenced legal action against Amazon for the unauthorised use of Nokia’s video-related technologies in its streaming services and devices. Cases have been filed in the US, Germany, India, the UK, and the European Unified Patent Court,” Nokia Chief Licensing Officer Arvin Patel said in a blog post on Tuesday.
What Is The Issue?
On its website, Nokia said Amazon Prime Video and Amazon’s streaming devices infringe a mix of Nokia’s multimedia patents covering multiple technologies including video compression, content delivery, content recommendation and aspects related to hardware.
Separately, Nokia has also filed cases in the US against HP “for the unauthorised use of Nokia’s patented video-related technologies in their devices”.
Why Has Nokia Filed Lawsuits?
Nokia said litigation is never their first choice. The vast majority of its patent licensing agreements are agreed amicably. To put this into context, since 2017, the company has concluded or extended over 250 licences — including amicable licenses with Apple and Samsung — and launched just six litigation campaigns.
“We’ve been in discussions with each of Amazon and HP for a number of years, but sometimes litigation is the only way to respond to companies who choose not to play by the rules followed and respected by others. And let’s be clear: Amazon and HP benefit significantly from Nokia’s multimedia inventions,” Arvin Patel said.
He said over-the-top (OTT) streaming is a huge growth market. In 2022, the global OTT streaming market generated almost $150 billion in revenue. This year, it is expected to grow to more than $170 billion. And by 2027 the market is estimated to reach $300 billion.
“Yet, there’s a mismatch between those who invested in developing the technologies that underpin streaming services and those who benefit the most,” Patel said.
For example, since 2000, Nokia has invested more than €140 billion (and over €4.5 billion last year alone) in R&D for cutting-edge technologies including cellular and multimedia. As a result, the company holds one of the world’s strongest patent portfolios of connectivity and multimedia technologies — and it is no exaggeration to say that entire industries are powered by these inventions, he added.
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