The Register brings news of what looks like some interesting litigation between phone giants Nokia and a couple of nuisance competitors, handset makers Sagem (France) and Vitelcom (Spain). Alas, the news item doesn't tell us the things we really want to know. For example
* Which IP rights is it alleged that Sagem and Vitelcom have infringed? Could be one or more of the following: national trade mark rights, Community trade mark rights, national registered design right, national unregistered design right, Community registered design right, Community unregistered design right, artistic copyright, patents - or an action for unfair competition, passing off or slavish imitation.
* In which country or countries is the litigation being launched? Given that handsets are not only highly portable but also importable and exportable, litigation could happen almost anywhere -- perhaps with the prospect of (i) a battle as to which court or courts should retain jurisdiction and/or (ii) the chance of a pan-European court order.
The IPKat begs his readers -- if you know the answers to any of these questions, do please post them as Comments below.
More on handsets here, here and here
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