Nokia has hinted that Google’s recently announced Nexus 7 tablet infringes upon various patents owned by the beleaguered Finnish phone maker. In a statement issued by the company first reported by The Inquirer, it says that the new tablet from Google appears to infringe upon a bunch of Nokia patents.
Nokia’s patents have been licensed by over 40 manufacturers across the globe – but not by either Google or Asus. The latter as you might be already aware is the manufacturer of the Nexus 7 tablet which goes on sale later this month in the US and the UK.
Nokia has interestingly taken a mild stand against these possible infringements and has invited both Asus and Google to sign up for using these technologies so that they may avoid taking the legal route. In the statement, Nokia says, “Neither Google nor Asus is licensed under our patent portfolio. Companies who are not yet licensed under our standard essential patents should simply approach us and sign up for a license.”
It is unclear as of now as to what patents and how many of them are being infringed upon. Both Google and Asus are yet to respond to Nokia’s claim.
Nokia, which is undergoing a gradual (and painful) transition from moving on to Microsoft’s Windows Phone devices from its old Symbian platform is losing out the smartphone race with Windows Phone sales’ refusing to pick up steam. It hopes to rake in considerable moolah in the meantime by licensing out its comprehensive list of patents.
