Nokia Smartphones Banned In EU: Here's Why

HMD Global has been on a launch spree of late and has taken the wraps off a slew of new offerings in the Nokia G series, X series and C series. While these new smartphones are available in the global markets, they are not up for sale in Germany. For now, there is no word regarding other European markets.

Notably, fresh reports claim that these new Nokia smartphones have been banned in select European markets. The reason for this ban on Nokia smartphones in some markets is due to the lawsuit filed by VoiceAgesEVS LLC against HMD Global.

Lawsuit Against HMD Global

Detailing on the lawsuit filed by the company called VoiceAgeEVS, it is about the VoLTE protocol that is being used without any permission. This has made the company active in the EU courts. Talking about the company, VoiceAgeEVS LLC is involved in issuing and licensing a global, standard-essential patent portfolio that is related to voice and audio technologies for smartphones and other products.

Previously, the company has sued other device manufacturers including Apple, Lenovo and TCL. However, these companies settled the dispute outside of the court and VoiceAgeEVS LLC has let them use voice standards in order to make VoLTE calls over the LTE network.

Amongst others, HMD Global was one of the smartphone manufacturers that failed to seek the consent of VoiceAgeEVS LLC before using the voice standards. This has led them to a lawsuit and a consequent sales ban on Nokia smartphones in Germany.

As reported by Nokiamob, HMD Global has appealed the judgment of the German court. Apparently, HMD Global will not sell its smartphones in the German market until a favorable court rule is issued.

Impact On MD Global

This sale ban in Germany is not good for HMD Global as it just started witnessing positive growth in its financial reports after being in the business for four years. Moreover, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) is just a few days away and this is the last thing that could happen to the Finnish company. Recently, HMD Global released the Nokia G21 smartphones for its fans and this will not hit the stores in select markets due to this ban.