09.08.2022 | Android salad
OnePlus and Oppo phones banned in Germany thanks to patent lawsuit, can the rest of Europe follow suit?
In Europe, almost anyone has access to OnePlus and Oppo mobile phones, but this is no longer the case in Germany. An ongoing patent lawsuit by Nokia (the Finnish equipment supplier, not the global HMD, which owns the Nokia smartphone brand) essentially bans sales of the Oppo and OnePlus models in Germany.
In fact, both brands have now stopped selling. If you go to the German version of the Oppo and OnePlus websites, you will find that you cannot buy a new phone.
Of course, this does not affect the already sold Oppo and OnePlus phones. If you have a phone of this brand, the device will continue to work as usual. This only applies to new phones sold in Germany.
For years, Nokia has claimed that Oppo and OnePlus are using 5G technology in their smartphones. Because the companies did not pay for these patents, Nokia tried to argue in court that sales should be blocked until this issue was fixed.
A German court has now ruled in Nokia’s favour. This means that Oppo and OnePlus will have to pay Nokia to use the patents in order to legally sell the phones in Germany. Or you can remove the technology from future phones to avoid paying.
However, this does not solve the current problem of what will happen to phone sales. As mentioned, sales of Oppo and OnePlus in Germany have ceased. Companies need to know what to do or risk a serious blow to their sales results and revenue.
It is also clear that this is only the tip of the iceberg, this lawsuit does not only apply to Germany. In theory, other countries can also support Nokia now that Germany has set a precedent. If Oppo and OnePlus are forced to halt sales across Europe, they could face a serious problem.
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