Patent rights debate at London's High Court is expected to last three weeks

The patent infringement dispute between chipmaker Qualcomm and Nokia arrived in London's High Court yesterday.

Qualcomm is seeking an injunction to stop the Swedish phone giant from selling its phones in the UK, on the grounds that Nokia is violating two European patent rights. Nokia asserts that the patents themselves are invalid.

The conflict arose after Nokia failed to renew a technology licensing pact that expired in April.

The London dispute is only one of several legal battles that the two companies are waging in Europe, the US and China.

Today, Nokia launched an appeal against last month's German court ruling last month that dismissed a challenge to Qualcomm's patent rights for its mobile phone chips.

A similar decision in Holland this month also favoured the US firm, but there is yet to be a final verdict in cases based in the US, Italy, France and China.

The High Court case is expected to last at least three weeks.