U.S. International Trade Commission rules in favor of Nokia

The judge’s Initial Determination, issued on August 14, 2009, is consistent with a previous judgment in the United Kingdom that found several InterDigital patents not to be essential to the UMTS mobile standard.

"As a leading innovator Nokia respects valid and used IPR and expects others to do the same", said Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president, Nokia Legal and Intellectual Property. "We are willing to compensate other contributors with what is fair and reasonable for such IPR, however in the case of unrealistic and unwarranted demands, we are prepared to ensure through litigation that our rights are protected.  We believe this initial determination by the ITC combined with earlier UK court decisions provide a strong indication that the asserted value of InterDigital’s 3G patent portfolio may have been over-estimated."

The judge’s Initial Determination will now be forwarded to the full Commission for review. The Commission is scheduled to make its Final Determination by around December 14, 2009.  Ahead of the Final Determination, Nokia will continue to present its case to the ITC.