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Turn off the mic: Nokia gets injunction on 'key' HTC One component

Dutch court stops Taiwanese firm from using microphones

Nokia has said it bagged a court injunction in Amsterdam that effectively prevents HTC from using the microphones that are a "key" component of its HTC One smartphone.

The Finnish phone maker won a preliminary ban on the mikes, made by ST Microelectronics, stopping the firm from selling them on to HTC or anyone else.

"In its marketing materials, HTC claims that its HDR microphone is a key feature for the HTC One, but it is Nokia technology, developed exclusively for use in Nokia products," the company said in an emailed statement.

"Nokia filed this action after it discovered these components in the HTC One. HTC has no licence or authorisation from Nokia to use these microphones or the Nokia technologies from which they have been developed."

Nokia and HTC, which have both been feeling the pain of being a hell of a lot less popular than the current kings of mobile Apple and Samsung, have a number of patent cases going in Germany, the US and the UK as well as the Netherlands. The Finnish firm has asserted more than 40 patents against HTC, with wins and losses on both sides.

The microphones represent innovations known at Nokia as "High Amplitude Audio Capture", the company claimed, adding that they allow users to record music "that sounds as good as when you first heard it".

HTC said it was "disappointed" by the decision.

"We are consulting with STM and will decide whether it is necessary to explore alternative solutions in due course. In the meanwhile, we do not expect this decision to have any immediate impact on our handset sales," the firm said in an emailed statement. ®

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