( dpa ) - Nokia, maker of four out of every 10 mobile phones sold worldwide, has been sued for 12 billion euros by a German firm that alleges a breach of its patent, court officials confirmed Thursday.
A court in Mannheim, western Germany is to hear on April 29 the claim by IP-Com, a buyer of patents which has its office near Munich.
Anne Eckert, a Nokia spokeswoman, said the Finnish-based company would vigorously oppose the claim.
She said the patents involved were invalid and had not been breached.
IP-Com says it acquired 1,000 patents in 160 groups in late 2006 from Robert Bosch GmbH which were "essential" for the functioning of mobile phones using the current GSM and UMTS digital standards.
It said Nokia was first approached six years ago and asked to pay royalties.
However Nokia said Robert Bosch GmbH as original patent holder had failed to meet obligations to standardization bodies and Nokia when it sold the patents to IP-Com, which belonged to Bosch corporate legal advisors.