Acer and ASUS banned from selling PCs and laptops in Germany after a Nokia HEVC video codec patent ruling

Last year, Nokia filed patent claims against the Taiwanese companies, Acer and ASUS, at the Munich Regional Court and the UPC (Unified Patent Court) over video codec patents. According to Nokia, both Acer and ASUS have been using its High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC or H.265) technology in their laptops, tablets, and monitors for years without paying for licenses.

It is now reported that Acer and ASUS are banned from selling PCs and laptops in the German market after a ruling by the Munich Regional Court over the patent dispute. Both companies were found to infringe Nokia’s standard-essential video patents and were unwilling to license them on fair, FRAND-compliant terms.

Due to this, the court issued injunctions prohibiting both manufacturers from offering, distributing, using, importing or possessing such devices in Germany. Acer has officially and temporarily suspended sales of notebooks and PCs in Germany from its own online shop, while ASUS’s German product pages for many systems are also no longer regularly accessible. The German websites of ASUS and Acer are currently displaying signs indicating maintenance work.

Do note that this ruling is for the manufacturers only and not the retailers. Retailers who still have Acer and ASUS products in stock can continue selling them, but consumers may see a shortage of these products later, as the companies cannot import new units. Unless the lawsuit is concluded sooner or Acer and ASUS decide to sort a deal with Nokia.

Stay tuned with The Tech Outlook for the latest updates.