Nokia owns many patents and enforces them in court when partners do not comply with the license agreements. After Oppo and OnePlus were already driven out of Germany, another company from BBK Electronics is now following.

Nokia distributes Vivo from Germany

Things are not going well for BBK Electronics in Germany. The Chinese company has some smartphone brands in its portfolio that Nokia says don’t pay royalties on patents. A German court agrees and recently banned Oppo and OnePlus cell phones. Nokia then took on Vivo. With success, because Vivo has withdrawn from Germany. Only this note is displayed on the website:

Vivo has withdrawn from Germany. (Image source: Vivo)

Vivo products are therefore no longer available in Germany. That should be due to the lawsuit from Nokia. All smartphone product information has been removed from the website. At least Vivo doesn’t let smartphone users down completely. Anyone who already owns and uses a Vivo cell phone should continue to be able to access customer service. Also Software updates will continue to be available.

Vivo, Oppo and OnePlus belong together one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. Why they don’t just pay Nokia’s patent license fees like all other companies do remains a mystery.

Vivo recently presented a really promising folding cell phone:

What’s happening with Realme?

Oppo, OnePlus and Vivo have disappeared from Germany. Now only Realme remains from the BBK Electronics family. The smartphones can still be seen on the website, but I recently revealed that cell phones are no longer sold in Germany. Accordingly, BBK Electronics should have said goodbye to all brands from Germany. Whether there is a way back remains to be seen.