Nokia withdraws action against Geely in connected cars dispute

Since last summer, Finnish company Nokia has filed infringement claims in Munich and at the UPC over several patents essential to the 4G and 5G standards, which are used in connected cars.

At Munich Regional Court Nokia sued Geely over EP 3 566 488 and EP 3 832 976. The oral hearing in the case of EP 488 was scheduled to take place this morning at the 7th Civil Chamber (case ID: 7 O 9322/25). The court has now confirmed that Nokia has withdrawn the claim.

This suggests that the parties have settled and Geely may have taken an Avanci licence, as seven other Chinese car makers have recently done. In a parallel lawsuit concerning EP 976, the hearing is currently scheduled for 15 July (case ID: 21 O 9323/25). It is not yet known whether Nokia has also withdrawn this lawsuit, but this is probably only a matter of time.

At the UPC, the Mannheim local division had scheduled a hearing in the dispute over EP 3 799 333 for mid-November. The Munich local division has not yet set a date for EP 4 090 075. It seems highly likely that Nokia will also withdraw these claims in the coming days.

AILI granted

After Geely filed an application for an interim licence in China, Nokia successfully filed an anti-suit injunction against a Chinese interim licence with both the Munich Regional Court and the UPC. The courts granted Nokia the anti-interim licence injunctions against the Chinese car manufacturer in spring.

Geely, headquartered in Hangzhou, China, owns several automotive brands including Volvo, Panda and Polestar. The company is also part of a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz for production of the Smart brand.

Nokia relies on its regular advisers from Arnold Ruess. Tim Smentkowski, Cordula Schumacher, Chanisar Bangkomnet, and Matthias Klämbt are involved in the PI proceedings at the UPC and Munich Regional Court.

Geely is reportedly working with a team led by Steffen Steiniger from Hogan Lovells in the dispute.