We don’t blame the reader if they have a sense of deja vu with this short story, because it has already happened. OPPO and OnePlus had no choice but to stop selling mobile phones in Germany, and again, this is due to a patent issue that has not yet been resolved.
Readers will remember that in 2022 both brands had to temporarily leave the German market, after a German court granted this ability to Nokia, the plaintiff who demanded payment for the patents used by mobile phones of the two brands. A few months later, another “sister” brand of the BBK group, vivo, was also affected.
This story had a happy ending, with OPPO signing peace with Nokia through a cross-licensing deal that will allow both companies to use some of each other’s patents. However, this movie has a sequel, and now OPPO is facing the exact same situation, more or less.
And, on this occasion, the plaintiff is not Nokia, but an American company called InterDigital; However, like bad sequels, the story is the same. Once again, InterDigital accuses OPPO and OnePlus of using their patents, particularly in the related to 5G connectivity. And once again, the court granted the plaintiff the opportunity to request a pause in sales of the affected devices until the situation is resolved; a power that InterDigital used and which forced both brands to remove their products from stores.
Concretely, OPPO and OnePlus had to stop selling smartphones and, as we have seen, none of the two brands’ German stores offer mobile phones of any type; Actually, The OPPO store has completely closed its doorsand only displays an informational message to its users, confirming that their devices are not available in Germany. For its part, OnePlus has not closed its German store, and although it has removed cell phones, it continues to offer other devices like the OnePlus Pad 2 tablet, the OnePlus Watch 2 and the OnePlus Buds headphones Pro 3.
OPPO’s German store has closed its doors
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InterDigital is a company specializing in technology development, with innovations in different changes such as wireless connectivity, video and artificial intelligence. The company boasts that analysts place it in the top 3 cell phone patent holders more often than any other; Between 8 and 10% of these patents are considered “essential” to meet telecommunications standards. Mobile manufacturers therefore have no choice but to enter into agreements with Interdigital to offer basic functions on their devices. This has already happened to Motorola and Lenovo, which also had to leave Germany due to a lawsuit filed by InterDigital.
The question now is how long this situation will last and whether it can be extended to other European countries such as Europe; As for the second, the two brands They continue to operate in our country without problemand this is not expected to change in the near future. And regarding the first, it all depends on the time it will take for the actors to reach an agreement.
For its part, OPPO stated in statements to EL ESPAÑOL – El Androide Libre, that “advocates reasonable collaboration” and that he “will continue negotiations with InterDigital” and that he wishes to resolve the problem “amicably”. At the same time, the commitment to the Spanish market seems unwavering and promises that “we will continue our journey to provide excellent products and services to users around the world, including users in Europe.”
