ASUS Responds To PC Sales Ban In Germany Over Nokia Patent Judgement

Over in Germany, Acer and ASUS are in hot water with Nokia and the courts thanks to a patent infringement injunction related to those companies' use of popular video codecs. As a result, PCs from these manufacturers can no longer be sold in Germany. ASUS has released an official response confirming that its official website and store are suspended in Germany, but that its after-sales service and support remain active "in full compliance with the current court order." ASUS also says it's evaluating and pursuing legal action to "reach a fair conclusion as soon as possible", that it stands by "its position," (of non-infringement) and "remains committed to our customers and partners."

While some have been quick to condemn Nokia for this move, it is worth noting that Nokia isn't acting as a patent troll; that is, a business dedicated solely to making and enforcing patents rather than actually releasing products. The Finnish firm did actual engineering work on the HEVC codec at the center of the legal disagreement, and it is arguably just defending its IP from unlicensed use. ASUS and Acer seem to at least partially disagree, though, which is why German customers are in this situation.

Hisense, previously also included in Nokia's legal action, has since settled the dispute by purchasing a license from Nokia, and that will likely be what ASUS and Acer end up doing as well—at least, if they want to sell their PCs in Germany. Nokia has also filed lawsuits in the US and UK against Acer and ASUS, but no such action has been taken here as of yet. Over in the UK, the High Court granted an interim license to Acer and ASUS while the case gets worked out.


Ironically enough, Acer is also in the midst of an unrelated lawsuit against the Big Three wireless carriers in the United States, which may have contributed to its current lack of an official response to the situation unfolding in Germany as we speak. While Acer and ASUS are both major PC providers, PCs aren't the only thing these massive companies focus on, and the sheer scale of their operations can result in scenarios like this, where Acer's legal department is potentially overwhelmed with the workload of both going after wireless carriers and defending against Nokia.

At least ASUS seems to be on the ball with its response, and non-PC products from either company shouldn't be impacted by this ruling. Coverage of the case by German news site Juve Patent points toward an appeal from both ASUS and Acer to be the next most likely steps, but we won't be surprised if both firms eventually bend the knee to Nokia for a license deal on this one—which is definitely Nokia's preferred outcome.