Amazon must first remove affected TV sticks from sale.
Amazon is violating a Nokia patent with some of its Fire TV Sticks. This was decided by the Munich District Court I in a recent court ruling. As a result, Amazon must remove the affected devices from sale.
The reason for this is a technology that enables the decoding of compressed content. The Finnish manufacturer has a patent on this HEVC technology, which Amazon has infringed according to the court. This was first reported by BusinessWeek.
The ruling will not have a direct impact on customers, as Amazon says:
The ruling has no impact on existing customers. A wide range of Fire TV devices will continue to be available on Amazon.de.
Slap in the face for Amazon
: This is how the judgment should be classified
The Amazon spokesman further criticizes the Munich court’s ruling:
We believe the decision of the Munich I Regional Court is wrong and are confident that the situation will soon be resolved
Nokia, on the other hand, agrees with the court ruling and hopes that Amazon will accept the license for the patent at a fair price.
Patent law expert Florian Müller from the online service IPFray describes the ruling to WirtschaftsWoche as a Slap in the face for Amazon
Due to its speed, it new standards.
What is unusual about the Munich ruling
It usually takes several weeks for a ruling to be made in such a complex case. In this case, however, the court ruled unusually quickly and clearly.
According to WirschaftsWoche, the reason for this is a race between the district court in Munich and the patent court UPC. Nokia is suing there in parallel, and a decision is not expected until next year. As Müller explains, the district court does not want to lose relevance compared to the UPC and therefore made its ruling directly from the bench.
The UPC is not the only court expected to rule on the dispute. Amazon is hoping for a ruling from a British court that will set an international price for the patent licenses.
