Profiles in Innovation: Nokia - Honing IP to Business Needs

What does Nokia consider its biggest innovative break through?

Nokia has had a significant role in defining key elements of data downloading technologies into mobile devices, and easy-to-use mobile phones. We are now in a lucky position as no mobile phone manufacturer can make mobile phones without using several of our patents.

It is difficult to name any single breakthrough, because Nokia is in a business in which no single company can rely only on its own innovation, and no single innovation is enough. Nokia has been successful in relying on open standards, on the combination of good technologies from a number of sources and on some unique differentiation features that consumers have preferred.

Can you give examples of how the company uses the different forms of IP protection?

Nokia uses patents to protect innovative concepts, such as downloading ringing tones and the exchangeable phone covers developed in the 1990s; registered designs for the shape of the products, such as displays, batteries and keypads; and trademarks, such as Nokia, Connecting People and the Nokia ring tune.

Can you say more about your use of licensing and cross-licensing?

We have an active patent licensing program for companies that manufacture mobile phones or network equipment for cellular standards, such as GSM, CDMA or WCDMA. We are also about to launch new licensing programs to enable others to benefit from some of our easy-to-use concepts, or mobility elements, in products other than mobile phones.

We rely on open standards in most of our products, which typically requires the use of IP rights. Nokia develops and contributes its own IP to the development of such standards, as well as licensing IP from other contributors. Network economy is one of the popular words in the industry. For Nokia it means that we use a number of component suppliers and developers to complement our own development activities.

How would you describe Nokia’s IP strategy?

Our IP strategy is deeply integrated into Nokia’s business strategy. Nokia’s IP...