“German patent licensing firm IPCom has accused Apple of infringing a patent on 3G technology and wants €1.57 billion (US$2.1 billion) in damages, the Mannheim Regional Court said Wednesday,” Loek Essers reports for PCWorld. “IPCom has declared the patent, EP 1 841 268, essential to the implementation of 3G mobile standards, and a narrowed version of the patent was upheld by the European Patent Office (EPO) last month following challenges from Apple, Nokia, HTC, Ericsson and Vodafone.”
“The patent relates to the way handsets are allowed to access networks of various mobile telecommunications providers,” Essers reports. “The technology can be used to give some users priority access to networks in emergencies, even if the networks are overloaded, according to IPCom.”
“The case against Apple is scheduled to be heard on Feb. 11 at the Mannheim Regional Court,” Essers reports. “A separate case against Nokia over the European patent recently upheld by the EPO is scheduled to take place on May 28 at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: FRANDtastic.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]