The Supreme Court on August 4 dismissed mobile phone manufacturer Oppo's plea against a Delhi High Court order asking it to deposit 23 percent of the amount generated from its sales in India for infringing upon Nokia's patent.
The apex court said that since the Delhi HC is to commence the trial in the trademark infringement suit, it would not be appropriate for it to interfere with or modify the order. A trial is a process whereby the facts of a case and evidence to substantiate them are ascertained/verified by the court by conducting cross-examination and examination in chief, it added.
The court granted Oppo 10 days to file an affidavit of compliance with the order.
A division bench of the High Court in July passed the order after it found that the Chinese smartphone maker was using Nokia's technology without requisite consent. It arrived at the 23 percent figure after noting that Oppo's sales in India accounted for around 23 percent of its global sales.
Oppo secured a licence from Nokia in 2018 for using some of the Finnish telecom gear company’s technology for three years. Oppo had also made advance payments. The agreement, however, did not cover the use of patents relating to 5G standards. Considering that 5G devices account for 52 percent of Oppo's sales in India, the company would have had to pay a substantially higher amount to Nokia.
Nokia alleged that after the expiry of the agreement, Oppo
witnessed an unprecedented increase in sales, selling around 77 million devices in India without paying a single rupee in royalty.
The Finnish firm argued that it offered to discuss the renewal of the agreement but Oppo refused to negotiate, forcing it to move the high court for infringement of its patent for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G devices in India.
Nokia sought a pro tem (temporary) deposit from Oppo of an amount either based on the latest counteroffer by the Chinese firm for a global licence or an amount equivalent to the royalty paid under the 2018 agreement.
A single judge of the HC dismissed the application seeking interim deposit, saying the court did not have the power to do so without going into the merits of the case. Nokia then appealed against the order before a two-judge bench of the court.
A division bench set aside the order and asked Oppo to deposit 23 percent of the amount generated from its sales in India. To balance the equities in such cases, the court has the power to pass an order directing Oppo to make a temporary deposit without going into the merits of the case, it said.
Nokia was represented in the Supreme Court by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Pravin Anand from the law firm Anand and Anand.
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