A British court has ruled that three of four InterDigital patents are not essential to the UMTS 3G standard, in a case brought by Nokia. InterDigital has previously filed claims with the US International Trade Commission, alleging Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is engaging in unfair trade practices related to the licensing of some of its patents, and the two companies have fought numerous patent battles over the past several years. Nokia began the case in the UK as a proactive form of defense against more InterDigital suits in Europe, reports Reuters; the judge’s ruling means that the InterDigital patents aren’t considered an essential part of the UMTS standard, therefore Nokia isn’t necessarily compelled to license them. Like most of these rulings, this is just yet another step in a never-ending process, with plenty of intellectual-property battles between Nokia, InterDigital, Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) and other companies raging on multiple fronts.

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