HTC One Mini appeal date set for December 12

Judge will decide on Thursday if the smartphone will go off sale until the manufacturer’s appeal against Nokia patent infringement is concluded

HTC will find out on Thursday if sales of its One Mini handset will be banned until the conclusion of its appeal regarding the infringement of Nokia patents.

On December 3 at the High Court of Justice, sales of the One Mini were banned in the UK after a judge ruled HTC had infringed on patents owned by its Finnish rival.

The judgment centred around patent infringements associated with HTC chipsets – more specifically the ‘modular structure for a transmitter and a mobile station’.

HTC said it is now working with its chip suppliers to explore alternative solutions. Nokia’s attempt to ban the sale of the HTC One in the UK failed, however.

The court had agreed the ban would come into force from December 6, although the manufacturer confirmed it was “urgently” appealing the decision.

The ban was then lifted until December 12, where it will be decided if the One Mini is banned until the conclusion of the appeal, the date of which has yet to be decided. The ban HTC imposed itself on the shipments of the One Mini into the UK remains unchanged.

HTC said: “HTC is pleased that an urgent hearing with the Court of Appeal has been scheduled for December 12. Until the Court of Appeal hearing on 12 December, the court’s injunction against HTC is stayed. Pending that hearing, HTC has undertaken not to ship further phones (other than the HTC One) to the UK. Until the hearing on 12 December, our UK customers will be able to sell all HTC devices which are already in their inventories.”