Nokia Says German Court Rules in its Favor in Patent Dispute with Amazon

FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
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Nokia Says German Court Rules in its Favor in Patent Dispute with Amazon

FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

A German court has ruled that Amazon is using Nokia's patented video technologies without a licence, the Finnish network equipment maker and telecommunications patent holder said on Friday.
In a statement, Nokia's Chief Licensing Officer Arvin Patel said the Munich Regional Court ruled Amazon was using "Nokia's patented video-related technologies in its end-user streaming devices and is selling them illegally without a licence".
Amazon said it disagreed with the court's decision and expected the situation to be resolved soon, without being specific.
"This ruling will not affect any existing customers and a wide selection of Fire TV devices will continue to be available on Amazon," Amazon said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding it was disappointed by Nokia's actions, Reuters reported.
Amazon said it had worked with a number of companies to license video patents.
"Nokia is demanding more than all those companies combined and has rejected our offer, which was fair and in line with market rates," Amazon said.
In July, Amazon sued Nokia in a Delaware federal court, accusing the Finnish group of infringing a dozen Amazon patents related to cloud-computing technology.
Nokia initiated the litigation against Amazon over the use of Nokia's patented multimedia inventions in 2023 in Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Unified Patent Court, it said in a blog post at the time.
"We hope that Amazon accepts its obligations and agrees a licence on fair terms," it said on Friday.



Mozilla Hit with Privacy Complaint Over Firefox User Tracking

FILE PHOTO: The Firefox logo is seen at a Mozilla stand during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Firefox logo is seen at a Mozilla stand during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
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Mozilla Hit with Privacy Complaint Over Firefox User Tracking

FILE PHOTO: The Firefox logo is seen at a Mozilla stand during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Firefox logo is seen at a Mozilla stand during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo

Vienna-based advocacy group NOYB on Wednesday said it has filed a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority against Mozilla accusing the Firefox browser maker of tracking user behavior on websites without consent.
NOYB (None Of Your Business), the digital rights group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems, said Mozilla has enabled a so-called “privacy preserving attribution” feature that turned the browser into a tracking tool for websites without directly telling its users, Reuters reported.
Mozilla had defended the feature, saying it wanted to help websites understand how their ads perform without collecting data about individual people. By offering what it called a non-invasive alternative to cross-site tracking, it hoped to significantly reduce collecting individual information.
While this may be less invasive than unlimited tracking, it still interferes with user rights under the EU’s privacy laws, NOYB said, adding that Firefox has turned on the feature by default.
“It’s a shame that an organization like Mozilla believes that users are too dumb to say yes or no,” said Felix Mikolasch, data protection lawyer at NOYB. “Users should be able to make a choice and the feature should have been turned off by default.”
Open-source Firefox was once a top browser choice among users due to its privacy features but now lags market leader Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Edge with a low single-digit market share.
NOYB wants Mozilla to inform users about its data processing activities, switch to an opt-in system and delete all unlawfully processed data of millions of affected users.
NOYB, which in June filed a complaint against Alphabet for allegedly tracking users of its Chrome browser, had also filed hundreds of complaints against big tech companies, some leading to big fines.