Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. & anor v Nokia Corporation & anor / Paramount Skydance Corporation v Nokia Corporation & anor [2026] EWHC 1505 (Pat)
This case concerns interim payments for RAND licences for video streaming technology.
Warner Bros. Discovery (“WBD”) and Paramount sought a RAND licence from Nokia to the Nokia Video Portfolio. The parties agreed a mechanism by which they would enter such a licence on terms to be determined RAND by the Court. Pending trial, it was agreed that an interim payment would be made to Nokia, and the Court was asked to determine the amount of such payment.
The parties’ competing positions on valuation at trial were before the Court at the interm payment stage: WBD and Paramount advanced a pool scaling approach whereas Nokia’s position was that the RAND rate should be determined by reference to bilateral comparables. Also before the Court was a lump sum offer Nokia had made to Paramount in 2024 (“the NLSO”).
The case is of interest due to the Judge’s consideration of:
- The applicability of a mid-point approach: whilst consistently used in determining (F)RAND interim payments, such an approach was not mandatory. This was an unusual case given the lack of convergence between the parties’ positions and the difference between them in conceptual approach.
- The approach to (F)RAND interim payments: there should not be a mini-trial – the court should avoid deciding issues which are arguable either way and avoid an excessive amount of detail.
- The doubt as to whether Nokia was entitled to recover royalties all the way back to the start of WBD’s and Paramount’s use given the contentions as to how the video streaming industry had developed and Nokia’s belated monetisation of the Nokia Video Portfolio. Allowance was to be made for these doubts when setting the interim payment amount.
Kathryn Pickard KC and Kyra Nezami, instructed by Kirkland & Ellis International LLP, appeared for Paramount.