Nokia v. Daimler, District Court of Mannheim, dec. of August 18, 2020, case docket 2 O 34/19

On August 18, 2020, the District Court of Mannheim handed down the first judgment in the current litigation campaign of Nokia v. Daimler. Despite Daimler’s FRAND defense, the Court enjoined Daimler from using a certain technology in Daimler cars that is essential to the LTE
mobile communication standard.

The decision is remarkable in several respects. It is the first permanent injunction granted against a major German car manufacturer that is based on a standard-essential patent (SEP).

It is also the first verdict of a lower patent infringement court after the German Federal Supreme Court’s (FSC) interpretation of the CJEU’s “Huawei / ZTE regime” in its recent FRAND-Defense decision (FSC, dec. of May 5, 2020, docket KZR 36/17). The Mannheim judgement comes down despite a formal request by the German Federal Cartel Office (case no. P-66/20) to stay the infringement proceedings and refer questions to the CJEU.

The entire summary and comment can be read here.
The judgment (in German) can be read here.

Judgment, summary and comment: Philipp Rastemborski and Tobias Wuttke, Meissner Bolte