Nokia Mobile was recently forced by a Patent Troll organization to remove its older smartphones in Germany. The Patent Troll VoiceAgeEVS LLC (VAEVS) sued HMD Global in Germanyfor use of EVS feature in VoLTE supporting smartphones.
This resulted in Nokia Mobile removing all other smartphones than Nokia G21 and Nokia G11 from its official site in Germany.
Nokia Mobile link
But it seems Nokia Mobile will soon list its full smartphone portfolio in Germany once again. It has already removed the concerned EVS feature from Nokia smartphones via an update, it seems. The removal of EVS feature won’t impact the VoLTE support in anyway as it is just a part of the overall VoLTE experience.
Here is the full official statement from HMD Global addressing the lawsuit and its consequences.
As the owner of a significant patent portfolio, HMD takes intellectual property rights seriously and is willing to offer and take licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) terms. HMD is a defendant in several lawsuits initiated by a company called VoiceAgeEVS LLC in different jurisdictions, including Germany. We are disappointed by the ruling of the VoiceAge lawsuit in Germany in December and are appealing.
HMD remains confident regarding the outcome of the overall dispute and will continue to provide consumers devices, accessories, and services that they love, trust and want to keep.
Given the excessive non-FRAND royalty demands made publicly by VAEVS, HMD has already taken measures to remove support for EVS from products sold in Germany to enable continued sales. HMD does not expect the removal of EVS functionality to have any meaningful impact on its business. HMD continues to sell a significant portfolio in Europe and will be including a full portfolio on our websites shortly.