(Yicai Global) June 8 -- Although Vivo lost a patent lawsuit against Nokia and is banned from selling products in Germany, the Finnish fifth-generation devices maker said it does not want to see the Chinese handset giant exit the German market.

Nokia is always open to friendly negotiations, the Espoo-based firm told Yicai Global today.

In April, a German court ruled in favor of Nokia in a patent case and put an an injunction on Vivo selling in the local market. Vivo has since suspended selling related products through official channels in Germany, according to the firm’s German website.

Regarding the court decision, the Dongguan-based smartphone maker told Yicai Global previously that it was appealing and would evaluate further steps.

But Vivo has not responded publicly to the latest developments following the verdict.

In addition to Vivo, Oppo, another Chinese mobile phone producer, has also removed products from sale on its official website in Germany since last year due to patent lawsuits filed by Nokia.

Nokia has sued Oppo in several countries since 2021, demanding patent fees. It sued Vivo in Germany and other countries on similar grounds last year.

Nokia negotiated a license renewal with Vivo before their patent deal expired in late December 2021, but the “fair and reasonable offer” was rejected, according to the Finnish firm.

But in the new agreement, Nokia offered a price far higher than the previous one, an industry source close to Vivo told Yicai Global at the time. Although the lawsuit was over 3G and 4G matters, Nokia was trying to pressure Vivo into accepting the terms for 5G royalties afterward by means of litigation, the person said.

Adler Feng, chief intellectual property officer at Oppo, also pointed out that Nokia’s charges for its 5G license were simply too high.

In Nokia’s 5G patent-licensing fee standard released in 2018, each 5G mobile phone using its patent needs to pay Nokia EUR3 (USD3.21). Phone manufacturers cannot make any profit if they follow Nokia’s charging standards, he noted.

In comparison, Huawei Technologies charges up to USD2.50 for each handset using its 5G patents.

Editors: Shi Yi, Peter Thomas