Mobile technology company Qualcomm absorbed another legal blow Monday when a British court ruled its claims of patent infringement against handset maker Nokia were invalid. The U.K. High Court said Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone maker by sales, had not infringed two patents regarding GSM mobile phone standards. Qualcomm Inc. has been trying to bring an injunction against Nokia that would prevent it from selling products using the GSM patents in the U.K. GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, is the world's dominant second-generation mobile phone technology standard. Qualcomm, which has filed 11 lawsuits around the world against Nokia in the past two years, has failed to win over the courts in its fight the Finnish handset maker. "We are pleased with the Court's decision that the patent claims are invalid and believe it is consistent with and supported by the facts," said Nokia Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson. "This is the second court to conclude that Qualcomm does not have relevant and valid GSM patents." Last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission turned down Qualcomm's petition for a review of an earlier decision, which said Nokia hadn't infringed on three patents, as claimed by Qualcomm. The two mobile phone-technology giants have tussled in court over patent-licensing agreements that expired in April last year. Qualcomm charges patent royalties to mobile phone makers, which Nokia and some other companies say are excessive. Richard Windsor, an analyst at Japanese investment bank Nomura said that the focus now shifts to a Delaware Court and a 3G patent dispute, where arguments are expected to begin this summer. "Qualcomm is weak in GSM and we think it has been deploying a strategy of firing out legal long-shots," said Windsor. "The hope is that a victory in one of these cases will bring Nokia to the negotiating table, but, so far, it's not achieved this." "The main focus now is going to be the Delaware case in July," said Windsor. "However, it's our view that Qualcomm is unlikely to prevail in that case either." Andrew Gilbert, president of Qualcomm in Europe, said the British court's decision was "not devastating." |