Sales ban for Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max › ifun.de

Amazon has stopped selling the Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The two devices are listed as currently no longer available. The background is a patent dispute between Amazon and Nokia, in the course of which Nokia was able to obtain a ban on the sale of the two devices before the Munich regional court.

According to the Handelsblatt, the Munich court made its judgment in September, but the sales ban decided upon only now came into effect. However, the measure only affects the two more powerful versions of the Fire TV Stick. The standard Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite models are still available.

The Munich Regional Court plans to publish further information on the matter shortly. The two parties are fighting over the amount of the license fees for a patent held by Nokia for the efficient and scalable adaptation of video streams. Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks apparently partially use this technology.

Apparently Amazon does not agree with the license fees set by Nokia. However, according to Nokia, the court confirmed that the claims were within a fair framework. The basis here is the so-called FRAND model (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory), in which the fees charged by the patent holders should be so moderate that they do not endanger the acceptance of the standard.

Devices already sold are not affected

While Nokia welcomes the decision as expected, Amazon criticizes the judge’s decision and expresses the hope that the situation will be resolved promptly. Until then, the affected devices will no longer be sold.

Amazon emphasizes that the procedure has no influence on devices that have already been sold. The ruling has no impact on customers who have already purchased the affected devices. The selection of Fire TV devices is limited by the judge’s ruling, but there are still different models in the range.