Acer, ASUS PC sales banned in Germany? What it means for buyers

Finnish telecom major Nokia has secured a significant legal victory in a standard-essential patent dispute against tech giants Acer and ASUS over licensing terms linked to HEVC (H.265) technology.

In its judgment, the Munich I Regional Court ruled that Acer and ASUS were not acting as “willing licensees” under the FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) framework. The finding enabled the court to grant injunctions that temporarily bar the two companies from directly offering, marketing, importing, or selling laptops and desktop PCs using the disputed technology in Germany.

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Nokia holds a substantial portfolio of standard-essential patents covering video codecs such as HEVC (H.265), VVC (H.266) and AVC, which are widely used in streaming services and consumer hardware. Companies using these technologies are required to obtain licences on FRAND terms.

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The court concluded that Acer and ASUS had failed to demonstrate sufficient willingness to negotiate or accept fair licensing conditions for Nokia’s patents, leading to the sales ban on infringing products in the German market.

The ruling is expected to increase pressure on both manufacturers to reach a licensing agreement if they want to resume PC sales in Germany.