Nokia said its sales in Germany will not be impacted by the decision of an appeals court on Monday to turn down its request to stay the enforcement of a local district court injunction.

In February a district court in Mannheim, Germany ruled that Nokia had infringed a patent of German company IPCom, putting pressure on the world's top cellphone maker to settle the long-running legal battle.

Nokia and IPCom have been fighting in several courts for more than four years over IPCom's patents and their validity as Nokia has said IPCom's licensing fee demands are discriminatory and unrealistic.

IPCom has said the Mannheim court ruling allows it to seek a halt to sales of Nokia 3G phones in Germany, but Nokia said it has already removed support for the functionality from its products to ensure that its phones can continue to be sold.

The court's decision not to stay an injunction in this case will have no impact on Nokia's business or consumers in Germany, a Nokia spokesman said on Monday.

Nokia continues to believe the patent is invalid and not infringed by Nokia products and has appealed the court's decision on infringement, he said. Nokia and others have filed objections to this patent at the European Patent Office, which will rule on its validity at a later date, he added.

IPCom has acquired Bosch's mobile telephony patent portfolio, created between the mid-1980s and 2000, which includes about 160 patent families worldwide, including some of the key patents in wireless space.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Richard Chang)

Germany