Acer and Asus are two of the biggest names in the PC space. If you are an Xbox fan, you will likely recognize ASUS, as it produces the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, both of which have sold well, despite some early issues.
However, both companies have temporarily stopped selling laptops and desktop PCs in Germany. It follows a court ruling that granted Nokia an injunction, preventing Acer and Asus from selling certain desktop and laptop devices in the country.
The ruling applies to the companies themselves. Retailers that already have stock can continue selling existing units. However, once that stock runs out, Acer and Asus cannot import or replenish new devices while the injunction remains in place.
Now, you might be wondering what Nokia has to do with all of this. The case centers on HEVC, which stands for High Efficiency Video Coding. It’s a video compression standard, patented by Nokia and used for streaming, recording, and playing high-quality video more efficiently.
Nokia claims that Acer and ASUS are using technology covered by its patents without the proper licensing terms in place. An injunction is simply a court order that forces a company to stop doing something. In this case, it requires Acer and ASUS to pause sales of affected products in Germany.
If Acer and ASUS reach a licensing agreement with Nokia, sales could resume. As the situation is still developing, either company could also choose to appeal the decision in court.
What do you make of this HEVC patent dispute, and do you think Acer and Asus should settle or fight the ruling in court? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and make sure to take part in our poll below:
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