KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Court of Appeal permanently stayed the London cases brought by Acer and Asus, effectively ending both lawsuits against Nokia in the UK.
- Nokia had challenged a High Court ruling that granted Acer and Asus an interim licence at $0.365 per device while FRAND terms were determined by the court.
- Nokia’s offer to resolve licensing terms through binding arbitration was accepted by the Court of Appeal as meeting its FRAND obligations.
- China-based Hisense, which had also sued Nokia, settled its case before the appeal was heard.
Nokia secured a victory at the UK Court of Appeal on 12 May 2026, which permanently blocked London patent lawsuits filed by Acer and Asus over video coding patents. The court stayed both cases, ruling that Nokia’s offer to set licensing terms through arbitration met its fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) obligations.
A Nokia spokesperson said this means the High Court trial scheduled for June and July will not go ahead. The dispute is part of a wider global battle over video streaming patents across courts in the US, Germany, Brazil, and the UK, alongside other major UK IP cases such as the £2 billion Microsoft cloud licensing case cleared for trial in April.
What the High Court Had Previously Ruled
The case began in December 2025, when the High Court under Judge James Mellor ruled in favour of Acer and Asus, granting an interim licence at $0.365 per device.
This was higher than the $0.03 per unit proposed by the Taiwanese companies, but lower than the $0.69 per unit Nokia wanted.
According to MarketScreener, the court also said Nokia had breached its obligation to offer FRAND terms and confirmed its jurisdiction to set a global rate for Nokia’s video streaming patent portfolio.
The dispute centres on Nokia’s patents for the H.264 and H.265 video codec standards, which are widely used in modern video streaming across devices like smart TVs and laptops.
Nokia argued that arbitration was the correct venue for setting FRAND rates and that UK courts should not decide a global licence. The High Court rejected both points.
However, on 12 May 2026, the Court of Appeal overturned the arbitration ruling, saying Nokia’s offer met its FRAND commitments, reshaping how UK courts may handle global IP licensing disputes in the future.
What the Ruling Means for Nokia’s Broader Patent Strategy
As AOL confirmed, Nokia had already filed lawsuits against Acer and Asus in the United States before the London cases, along with parallel proceedings in Brazil, Germany, and India.
This reflects its wider global enforcement strategy as one of the largest holders of standard essential patents.
The UK ruling does not end the wider dispute, but it removes London as an active battleground and supports Nokia’s preference for arbitration to set global FRAND rates, rather than national courts deciding them separately.
Hisense, which was also part of the original High Court claim, settled with Nokia before the appeal on undisclosed terms. As a result, the June and July trial dates in London will no longer proceed.
While Acer and Asus have yet to confirm if they will accept Nokia’s proposal for arbitration, the standoff highlights a growing trend.
Tech giants are now recalibrating their legal strategies to navigate shifting trade pressures. These range from looming US tariffs to evolving UK regulations, signaling a complex new chapter for global tech commerce.
Source: Nokia wins UK appeal to block Acer, Asus video streaming patent lawsuits
