Nokia issues warning on 3G patent row

Nokia has called for an industry-wide price cap on royalties from technology patents that are essential components of 3G networks and handsets.

Nokia wants its fellow patent owners, including Ericsson, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo and Qualcomm, to limit royalty payments for wideband code-division multiple access (wCDMA).

The manufacturer said a maximum royalty cost of five per cent of the total spent on building any given wCDMA component could be divided among all the patent owners involved.

The company claimed the spread of wCDMA technology will be inhibited by steadily climbing patent costs if no price cap is put in place.

A spokesman for Nokia Networks said: "Some individual patent holders have been claiming higher royalty rates than what we at Nokia see as being of long-term benefit to the industry. The royalty percentage is being pushed up as there are an increasing number of wCDMA patent owners.

"This five per cent is a level that would advocate growth and innovation in the industry as well as giving patent owners a satisfactory payoff."

He added that Nokia has around 25 per cent of the total wCDMA technology patents in the world, which are required for 3G networks in countries including the US and Japan.