Vivo banned from selling smartphones in Germany, read what the company has to say – Times of India

Vivo has suspended sales of its smartphones and other products in Germany as per the Nokia patent dispute lawsuit ruled against them. Last year, Oppo and OnePlus were banned from selling their phones in Germany as a part of the same lawsuit and now Vivo has also joined the list. WinFuture has reported that the company has removed the Store section from its Germany website along with all the phone listings leaving buyers no choice of buying their phones.
Vivo has released a statement confirming the same, the company has released an official press note as well as on its website in Germany. We visited Vivo’s Germany website and the website is completely blank with not a single product listed, including accessories.
Vivo has confirmed on its website that they are working with Nokia (the Finnish equipment supplier and not HDMI Global) to be able to resolve the situation with the company and resume the sales of its phones.
Meanwhile, the company hasn’t specified for how long the sales of their phones with remain suspended in the country.
Vivo to continue offering after-sale service
While the company has axed the sale of its smartphones and other products in the country. The company has assured its customers that it will continue to offer them after-sales services. This means users who already own Vivo phones in Germany will get service and support for their phones and other devices.
Here’s what the official post reads: (roughly translate using Microsoft Translate)
“vivo fully respects intellectual property and is committed to continuous innovation through comprehensive research and development. In recent years, Vivo has entered into reciprocal licensing agreements with numerous leading companies. We have been negotiating with Nokia on the renewal of the reciprocal licenses, but have not yet been able to reach an agreement. We strongly believe that Nokia has not yet fulfilled its obligation to offer a license on “FRAND” terms (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory).
We are disappointed by the first-instance judgments of the Mannheim Regional Court of 6 April 2023 and have suspended the sale and marketing of the products in question in Germany following the enforcement of these decisions by Nokia.
We have appealed the decisions and will consider further options. In the meantime, we remain in close contact with Nokia to conclude the licensing negotiations in accordance with the FRAND terms.
Our long-term commitment to the German market remains unchanged. Users can rely on customer service as well as future software updates for their devices. There is no impact on our business outside Germany.
What’s the Nokia patent lawsuit
For those unaware, Nokia accused Vivo, Oppo and OnePlus of infringing WLAN connections related patents in their smartphones. The lawsuit went to court and German courts ruled the case in favour of Nokia. As a result, these companies had to stop selling their products in the country.