The Lords of the Ringtones: will one king rule the technology standards of the future?

Adrian Howes, Head of IP and Standards, IP Policy and Advocacy, Nokia Corporation

In early 2006, I was pulled into a battle, which became but one in a whole series of battles that have since become referred to as the “Smartphone Wars” – which sounds a lot like Star Wars, although the Lord of the Rings would make for a better analogy, where various different interests vie for power or mere survival. In 2006 I was a newly qualified lawyer, at the law firm Bird & Bird, with a background in Chemistry. It was an exciting time, wondering where my career might lead. In my mind, it was going to be delving into the world of litigating pharmaceutical and chemical patents in private practice. Little did I know that some court pleadings, which landed on my desk one day that year, were going to take me on a most unexpected journey.

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UK Technology Telecommunications July 2021 Vol.14, No. 56, Summer 2021

Adrian Howes

Currently Head of IP and Standards in Nokia's IP Policy group, Adrian Howes was previously both a Senior Litigation and Legal Counsel at Nokia. Prior to that he was a Senior Patent Litigation Counsel at Mylan, a US generics pharmaceutical company, and a Senior Associate in the IP department of the law firm, Bird & Bird. He has obtained degrees in both Chemistry and Law from the Universities of Durham and Cambridge, respectively.

Nokia Corporation

Nokia is a 150 year old Finnish headquartered multinational telecommunications and information technology company. It employs around 90,000 people and operates in most countries in the world. You probably know it from a mobile handset you or a friend have owned. Today, it continues to help develop the technology for the next generation of mobile communications, and holds around 30,000 patent families covering many of the current mobile communication standards.

UK Technology Telecommunications July 2021 Vol.14, No. 56, Summer 2021