Nokia Technologies, a subsidiary of Finnish multinational Nokia Corp., has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Indian Patent Office’s refusal to grant its patent for an “enhanced registration procedure” designed to support its advanced 5G network slicing technology in India.
On 17 July, Justice Saurabh Banerjee issued notice to the assistant controller of patents and designs, directing a response to Nokia’s plea. The matter is scheduled for further hearing in November.
Network slicing lets telecom companies divide one network into many separate parts, like creating different lanes on a highway. Each slice is used for different things, such as faster internet for phones, special connections for hospitals, or smooth gaming. This makes the internet faster, safer, and more reliable.
The counsel for the patent office sought six weeks to file a reply, according to the court order. Any rejoinder, if required, can be filed within four weeks after that, the order said.
Nokia’s petition challenges the 8 January order of the assistant controller of patents, which rejected its invention on the grounds of lack of novelty, stating that the innovation already exists.
Filed on 19 October, Nokia’s patent claimed a faster, more secure method for devices to register on dedicated 5G network slices by immediately invoking third-party authentication during the registration (“attach”) process.
This approach, Nokia argued, ensures smoother and more secure connections, especially for enterprise-owned slices needing additional checks. The company said its method avoids devices attempting to access slices without proper authentication, enhancing overall network efficiency and security.
Nokia also informed the patent office that similar patents had been approved in the United States, Japan, and South Korea, proving its international recognition
However, the Indian Patent Office rejected all claims. It cited 3GPP’s technical standard document D1 as prior art, stating that similar methods were already described, making Nokia’s idea neither new nor inventive.
The office added that the invention was purely software-based without any new hardware implementation, thus non-patentable under Section 3(k) of the Patents Act.
Further reasons included unclear claim language, multiple dependent claims creating ambiguity, and failure to file updated disclosures within prescribed timelines.
Due to these issues—lack of novelty, obviousness, software-only nature, unclear claims, and documentation non-compliance—the patent was refused despite Nokia’s arguments
An emailed query sent to Nokia Technologies remained unanswered till press time.
Network slicing originated as a concept developed by telecom industry researchers and was standardized by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) as part of global 5G standards (from Release 15 onward).
3GPP is a global collaboration of telecom standards organizations that develops technical standards for mobile networks.
Leading telecom vendors including Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, and Samsung have developed commercial network slicing solutions. Major operators such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone, BT, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile, and SK Telecom are actively deploying or testing it worldwide.
Recently, Google Fiber announced that its customers may soon get more control over their home internet. On 30 June, Google Fiber said it has partnered with Nokia to test network slicing, which lets users create dedicated lanes for specific activities like gaming or video calls.
Countries with live or pilot deployments include the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea, China, and parts of Europe, with applications spanning factories, ports, healthcare, and premium broadband services.