The tit-for-tat between Nokia and OPPO continues. Yesterday, Nokia announced a UK win over a patent that two other courts (in Mannheim and The Hague) had previously deemed standard-essential, and on that occasion I also provided an update on Nokia's challenges to OPPO's countersuit patents.
As I've said on various recent occasions, Nokia will find it hard to gain decisive leverage in European courts over a company that has already pulled out of the largest European market. It's inconceivable that judgments in smaller European markets will move the needle, unless OPPO manages to obtain and enforce a sales ban on Nokia's base stations.
One of the high-volume markets that really matter here is Indonesia. In July, the Commercial Court of Central Jakarta dismssed all four patent infringement complaints by Nokia against OPPO and its affiliates, and imposed costs on Nokia. At the time, Nokia stressed that the decision was "made on purely procedural grounds."
It turns out that Nokia appealed, and that at least three of its appeals have been rejected by the Supreme Court of Indonesia:
Appeal no. 1597 K/Pdt.Sus-HKI/2022 of the lower court's decision in case no. 46/Pdt.Sus-Paten/2021/PN.Niaga.Jkt.Pst.
Appeal no. 1724 K/Pdt.Sus-HKI/2022 of the lower court's decision in case no. 47/Pdt.Sus-Paten/2021/PN.Niaga.Jkt.Pst.
Appeal no. 1849 K/Pdt.Sus-HKI/2022 of the lower court's decision in case no. 40/Pdt.Sus-Paten/2021/PN.Niaga.Jkt.Pst.
For those three cases, the websites state in Indonesian:
"1. Menolak permohonan kasasi dari Pemohon Kasasi NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY tersebut;"
According to Google, this means:
"1. Rejecting the cassation request from the Cassation Appellant: NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY;"
The fourth decision (case no. 41/Pdt.Sus-Paten/2021/PN.Niaga.Jkt.Pst. in the lower court) has also been appealed. The Supreme Court's case no. is 132 K/Pdt.Sus-HKI/2023, but I haven't found a decision yet and it appears to have been accepted very recently.
It is possible that Nokia will try again in Indonesia, be it with the same and/or other patents-in-suit. But all of this takes time, costs money, and the alternative for Nokia would be to strike a deal with OPPO (as other patent holders such as Huawei and Sisvel have) and focus on other targets.
