Amazon threatens to ban sales of FireTV stick after court ruling

In a patent dispute, the Munich Regional Court found that Amazon used Nokia technology in its devices without permission.

Nokia could impose a sales ban through an injunction, which, according to an Amazon spokesperson, would affect Fire TV Smart and Fire TV 4K Sticks, but not other parts of the Fire product range.

Decision pending

However, a Nokia spokesman said on Friday that the company has not yet been prevented from selling. A decision on the matter will be made shortly.

Nokia was one of the companies that set standards for video compression technology that helps optimize large video files for use in telecom networks.

Last year, the Finns filed patent complaints against Amazon – with regard to the use of such technologies in Germany, the USA, India, Great Britain and the EU.

Trade fairs and industry-standard offerings?

Amazon said it disagreed with the district court’s ruling and argued that the license fees demanded for Nokia technology were too high.

“We are always willing to pay a fair price for patent licenses and have worked with a number of companies to license video patents of this nature,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Nokia demanded more than all of these companies combined and rejected our fair and industry-standard offer.”

Amazon said the ruling had no impact on existing customers. The company can appeal the decision. With a sales share of almost seven percent, Germany is Amazon’s second-largest market after the USA.