Will Oppo leave France? The smartphone manufacturer tries to reassure
It’s a complicated time for Oppo in France and other European countries. A lawsuit with Nokia over patents could push the smartphone maker to stop sales in France. This is already a reality in Germany (also for OnePlus).
The case of Oppo in France
Oppo reacted to Frandroid concerning the case of France:
We always try our best to resolve the issue amicably with Nokia. Oppo places great importance on the role of intellectual property in innovation. Oppo has a history of establishing cross-licensing agreements with many industry-leading companies, including Nokia in 2018. At Oppo, we believe that a reasonable royalty for a cross-licensing structure should fairly reflect the values of the both parties’ patents.
In 2018, Oppo and Nokia signed an agreement around the use of patents. The agreement ended and the two parties failed to agree on a tariff. This results in a trial. “We believe that the value of Oppo’s 5G patent portfolio which Nokia also benefits from has been underestimated by Nokia in this particular case”believes the Chinese manufacturer.
Oppo also thinks that a victory for Nokia would motivate other companies to bring the same type of lawsuit against other competing brands. All this would lead to a slowdown in innovation and a significant loss for competition in the European market. Here is what Oppo says:
Oppo is committed to always promoting a healthy intellectual property ecosystem. Oppo’s main concern is that paying unreasonably high patent usage fees will encourage other patent-holding companies to follow suit, which harms innovation and the long-term development of the industry.
Customers will also have less choice in the marketplace if exorbitant patent fees force competing brands out of certain markets.
Reassure French customers
But what about French customers? “Our top priority is to continue to provide excellent service to our existing users in France, as always. Users can continue to use Oppo products, access after-sales service, receive future OS updates, etc. Nothing changes for end users”assures Oppo.
