Vivo sales to be banned in Germany

Oppo and OnePlus had to leave the German market due to the lost patent lawsuit against Nokia. Now the same thing is happening to Vivo, which has published an official statement about the Mannheim Regional Court’s decision. After no agreement could be reached on the future use of Nokia patents in Vivo phones, this BBK brand has made all preparations to suspend further sales and marketing of Vivo products in Germany.

Vivo announced it will appeal the decision, but in the meantime will continue to negotiate with Nokia to resolve the matter in accordance with FRAND terms.

The company will have a presence in the market, but so far it is not known how long the ban will be in effect. Nokia is known to be quite adamant about forcing all users of its patents to pay royalties, as the consequences could be even worse than the price of the patent rights.

German market is just the beginning for the BBK brands, since Nokia is currently suing  Oppo in other EU markets such as Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, and France.

Here is their full statement:

vivo fully respects intellectual property and is committed to continuous innovation through extensive research and development. In recent years, vivo has entered into cross-licensing agreements with numerous leading companies. We have negotiated with Nokia about renewing the mutual licenses, but so far have not been able to reach an agreement. We firmly believe that Nokia has not yet fulfilled its obligation to offer a license on “FRAND” (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

We have read with disappointment the decision of the District Court of Mannheim and have made preparations to suspend the sale and marketing of the products concerned through the official channels of vivo Germany, if necessary. We are preparing to appeal the decision and will review other options. In the meantime, we will continue negotiations with Nokia to resolve the matter in accordance with “FRAND” terms.

Our plans for a long-term commitment to the German market remain unchanged. vivo will continue to be present in Germany in the future, and our customers can continue to rely on our service. There is no impact on our business outside of Germany.

Source VIVO