The German automaker Daimler may be faced with a ban on the sale of Mercedes-Benz cars in Germany after the loss of a patent case with the Finnish Nokia.
Daimler would have equipped the cars with Nokia mobile technology without having been licensed, the judges ruled.
Whether it will actually come to a sales ban is still the question. Then Nokia will have to file a separate case and bring a large bag of money, about 7 billion euros.
This amount serves as collateral for any damage suffered by Daimler. This must be compensated if a higher court subsequently decides that the sales ban would not have been legally valid.
Daimler says in a response that it is now assessing the judge’s decision.
According to the ruling, Daimler must also provide Nokia with data on how many cars it has sold with the technology. The automaker said before the verdict it would appeal if the case was lost.