Apple Pulls All Withings Accessories From Apple Online Store Following Nokia Lawsuit
Apple Pulls All Withings Accessories From Apple Online
Store Following Nokia Lawsuit
Friday December 23, 2016 4:00 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the wake of its legal dispute with Nokia, Apple has
pulled all Withings-branded accessories from its online store and presumably
from all of its retail stores around the world.
Apple appears to have pulled the accessories in the last
day or two, eliminating Withings products like the Body Cardio Scale, the Smart
Body Analyzer, and the Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor. When searching for
these products on Apple's site, they are no longer listed as available for
purchase.
Apple has stopped offering all Withings products because
Withings is owned by Nokia following a spring 2016 purchase worth an estimated
$192 million. The Withings brand has been integrated into Nokia's Digital
Health unit and is led by Cedric Hutchings, formerly the CEO of Withings.
A cached version of the listing for the Withings Wireless
Blood Pressure Monitor, no longer available from Apple.com
Earlier this week, Apple filed an antitrust lawsuit
accusing Nokia and several patent assertion entities of illegally transferring
patents to attempt to extort excessive royalty fees from the Cupertino company.
Apple had established FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) deals
with Nokia, but by transferring patents to patent holding companies, additional
royalties can be demanded.
In response, Nokia filed 40 patent infringement lawsuits
against Apple across 11 countries, accusing the Cupertino company of failing to
establish licensing deals for Nokia patents that cover displays, user
interface, software, antenna, chipsets, and video coding.
According to Apple, Nokia has been conspiring with patent
assertion entities (Acacia Research and Conversant Property Management) in an
"illegal patent transfer scheme" to wring money out of Apple because
Nokia's cell phone business is failing. Nokia, meanwhile, says that it has not
been able to reach a licensing agreement with Apple and must defend its rights.
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