Sales ban looms

Fire TV: Nokia wins patent case against Amazon

Nokia has won a patent case against Amazon at the Munich Regional Court. The ruling could stop the Finnish company from selling certain models of Amazon's video streaming device Fire TV in the future.

The dispute concerns technical details in the H.264 and H.265 compression methods used in video streaming, which Nokia had protected by patents several years ago. The amount of license payments that Nokia is demanding for their use is controversial in the industry. Nokia has already had several patent disputes settled in Germany because the regional courts in Munich and Mannheim in particular often rule in favor of the patent holders.

However, a sales ban on Fire TV players will only take effect in Germany if Nokia actively asserts its right to an injunction. However, the Finns would have to deposit a high security deposit for this because the judgment is not yet legally binding.

Amazon: "Wrong decision"
Amazon sharply criticized the ruling: "We consider the decision of the Munich Regional Court to be wrong and are confident that the situation will soon be resolved." The ruling will have no impact on existing customers. In addition, a large selection of Fire TV devices will continue to be available on Amazon.de. Amazon is always prepared to pay a fair price for patent licenses.

It has also worked with a number of companies to license video patents of this type. "Nokia is asking for more than all these companies combined and has rejected our fair and industry standard offer. We regret that Nokia is trying to limit customer choice." Nokia could not be reached for comment.