OnePlus pulls its smartphones from shelves in Germany due to patent dispute

OnePlus is no longer selling its smartphones in Germany. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has a patent conflict with InterDigital.
Several news outlets, including Allround-pc and GSMarena, noticed OnePlus wasn’t selling smartphones via its German webshop for days. Now we know the reason behind this decision.
OnePlus is involved in a patent dispute with InterDigital, a company that holds key patents for 5G and other technologies used in mobile phones.
Which patents are involved remains unknown. What we do know is that OnePlus has only withdrawn smartphones from the German market. Other products, such as the OnePlus Pad 2, OnePlus Buds Pro 3 and OnePlus Watch 2, are still available.
Only customers from Germany are affected by the patent dispute. If they really want to buy a smartphone by OnePlus, they’ll have to shop across the border.
OnePlus acknowledges the patent dispute and says it’s trying to resolve the issue.
“OnePlus places high value on intellectual property rights and fair access to standard essential patents, which is essential for driving innovation in the industry. We will continue to negotiate with InterDigital and wish to resolve this matter in an amicable way. Meanwhile, our commitment in Europe remains unchanged and we will continue to provide excellent products and services to our users,” the smartphone producer states.
It's unclear when OnePlus will be able to sell its handsets in Germany again.
This isn’t the first time OnePlus has to pull its smartphones from the German market due to a patent dispute. In August 2022, the company lost a lawsuit against Nokia over 4G and 5G patents. As a result, smartphones from the Chinese manufacturer were banned in Germany.
Earlier this year, after resolving the issue, OnePlus returned to the German market.
InterDigital is a research and development company that provides wireless technologies for mobile devices and communication networks. It’s one of the biggest patent holders in the world for cellular technologies.
InterDigital has clashed numerous times with other tech companies over alleged patent infringement, which often resulted in lawsuits. Therefore, in some circles InterDigital is considered to be a patent troll, meaning the company earns his money by selling licensing fees, or by suing businesses for the unlawful use of its patents.
InterDigital has always refuted these allegations, pointing out the company does its own research and development.
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