The German Federal Patent Court has ruled that a Qualcomm patent affecting GSM phones is invalid - and threw out a case against Nokia. The original lawsuit was filed by Qualcomm against Nokia in August 2006 , but delayed at Qualcomm's request.

" Nokia believes that this case is illustrative of the ongoing patent debate around open standardization. As an increasing number of technologies are integrated into new products some patent owners try to claim high compensation for patents that lack merit," Nokia said in a statement.

The UK's High Court, and the USA's International Trade Commission have also both previously ruled that Qualcomm's GSM patents are invalid.

Another key lawsuit between the two companies is due to start today in the USA. A second hearing in Germany on another patent issue is due in October.

Nokia and Qualcomm are currently involved in patent litigation in courts in three US states - California, Wisconsin and Texas, along with the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and China.

Source:cellular-news