Amazon countersues Nokia in escalating cloud patent battle
E-commerce and cloud computing big, Amazon, has filed a sweeping patent infringement lawsuit in opposition to Nokia, alleging the Finnish telecoms firm has misappropriated Amazon’s cloud computing improvements.
The lawsuit, filed in the USA District Courtroom for the District of Delaware on July 30, 2024, comes lower than a yr after Nokia initiated its authorized motion in opposition to Amazon over video streaming applied sciences.
Amazon’s criticism accuses Nokia of infringing on 12 patents associated to cloud computing and virtualization applied sciences. The Seattle-based tech behemoth claims that Nokia’s merchandise, together with its CloudBand Infrastructure Software program and Nuage Networks Virtualized Companies Platform, incorporate Amazon’s patented improvements with out permission.
“It was Amazon that pioneered within the cloud, and now Nokia is utilizing Amazon’s patented cloud improvements with out permission,” the lawsuit states. Amazon is in search of unspecified damages and an injunction to forestall additional alleged infringement.
This authorized counteroffensive follows Nokia’s October 2023 announcement that it had commenced authorized motion in opposition to Amazon in a number of jurisdictions, together with the US, Germany, India, the UK, and the European Unified Patent Courtroom. Nokia’s go well with alleged that Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service and gadgets infringed on Nokia’s video-related patents.
On the time, Arvin Patel, Nokia’s Chief Licensing Officer for brand spanking new segments, stated, “Litigation isn’t our first selection. The overwhelming majority of our patent licensing agreements are agreed upon amicably.” Patel emphasised that Nokia had been in discussions with Amazon for years, including, “Typically litigation is the one means to answer firms who select to not play by the foundations adopted and revered by others.”
Amazon’s lawsuit paints a unique image, portraying Nokia as an organization desperately pivoting to cloud applied sciences after shedding floor within the cell phone market. The criticism states, “To save lots of the corporate, Nokia exited the cell system enterprise in 2014 — an act its board chairman known as a ‘second of reinvention’ — and pivoted to the sale of 5G community infrastructure and related providers that it acquired from Alcatel-Lucent in 2016.”
The lawsuit additional alleges that Nokia’s “new firm technique” concerned leveraging Amazon’s modern options, together with its patented expertise, to handle points confronted by cloud service suppliers.
In response to Amazon’s lawsuit, a Nokia assertion learn: “We respect different firms’ mental property and anticipate others to do the identical. We now have simply change into conscious of Amazon’s patent infringement claims in an motion they’ve filed within the Delaware District Courtroom. We are going to overview these issues and defend ourselves vigorously in court docket.”
This authorized battle highlights cloud computing applied sciences’ rising significance and complexity within the trendy tech panorama. Amazon Net Companies (AWS), launched in 2006, has grown to change into the world’s main supplier of cloud computing providers utilized by firms massive and small in 190 international locations all over the world. In keeping with Amazon’s submitting, over 90% of Fortune 100 firms and most Fortune 500 firms use AWS.
The patents on the centre of Amazon’s lawsuit cowl a spread of cloud computing applied sciences, together with digital networking infrastructure, digital networking safety, digital networking efficiency, and distributed program execution and administration.
See additionally: Amazon Net Companies and Nokia staff up for better service supplier cloud transition
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