Current status (18 August 2026): Acer and ASUS are no longer subject to the temporary German sales stoppage that followed Nokia’s HEVC/H.265 patent victories. Munich Regional Court I issued injunctions in January 2026 affecting the manufacturers’ ability to offer, import, market and replenish certain products. Both companies resumed German sales and marketing in June after reaching arrangements involving arbitration with Nokia. The commercial terms were not disclosed.
What happened in Germany?
In January 2026, Munich Regional Court I ruled for Nokia in separate patent proceedings involving Acer and ASUS. The reported case numbers were 7 O 4100/25 for Acer and 7 O 4102/25 for ASUS. Reports say the matters were heard together around the end of January.
The injunctions concerned products using technology covered by Nokia patents relating to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265. HEVC is a video-compression standard designed to deliver similar quality at lower bitrates than older codecs. It is not H.264, although some headlines incorrectly used that label.
The dispute was about alleged use of Nokia-patented technology without an appropriate licence. It was not a finding that Acer or ASUS had invented HEVC, nor did it make every computer containing an Intel, AMD or NVIDIA chip automatically infringing.
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See the contemporaneous reporting from Heise and ASUS’s public statement.
What did the court restrictions cover?
Published descriptions said the orders restricted the manufacturers and their distribution activities concerning affected products. The prohibited conduct was reported to include:
- offering affected computers for sale;
- putting them into circulation;
- importing them into Germany;
- possessing products for those purposes; and
- advertising or marketing them through manufacturer channels.
In practical terms, normal manufacturer-led distribution of affected Acer and ASUS laptops, desktops, mini-PCs and related systems in Germany paused. This was not a universal prohibition on owning, using or reselling every Acer or ASUS computer, and buyers were not told to return machines they already owned.
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Reports identify Nokia European patents relating to HEVC, including EP 2 375 749 and EP 2 661 892, in the related litigation. Because published coverage does not consistently map each patent to every claim and product, the precise patent-and-claim scope should be confirmed against the original court orders and patent records rather than attributed to one patent alone.
Why did the German websites and stores change?
ASUS temporarily suspended parts of its German website and online store after the ruling. Acer also limited German sales and marketing activity. Removing products and promotional material was a way to comply with the reported restrictions on offering and advertising, not evidence that every Acer or ASUS service had shut down globally.
ASUS said German after-sales service remained operational under the court order. Sales, support, firmware downloads, warranty repairs and spare-parts access are separate issues; a store being unavailable does not by itself mean that existing customers lost warranty rights. Some reports described support pages becoming harder to reach from Germany, but that was reported as a website-access issue rather than a blanket court-ordered termination of support.
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Could retailers still sell computers?
Coverage indicated that German retailers could continue selling inventory they had already lawfully obtained, while Acer and ASUS could not replenish the channel through ordinary new shipments during the restriction. That distinction mattered for buyers: a retailer’s stock could remain available even when a manufacturer’s German store was offline.
| Situation | Reported position during the restriction |
|---|---|
| Retailer’s existing German inventory | Reportedly still sellable |
| New manufacturer shipments into Germany | Restricted under the reported injunction scope |
| Manufacturer-owned German online stores | Suspended or limited |
| Computers already purchased | Ownership and use were not prohibited; no general recall was reported |
Retailers and buyers considering cross-border or grey-market purchases still needed to check keyboard layout, power accessories, VAT, return rights, warranty territory and support arrangements. An imported system was not equivalent to official German distribution.
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- Immersive Visuals: With its narrow bezel design the 15.6" 1080p Full HD IPS display is perfect for casual web browsing and watching movies or streaming, allowing for a sharp, detailed view of what's in front of you. And with Acer BluelightShield, lower the levels of blue light to lessen the negative effects of blue light exposure.
- User-Friendly by Design: Seamlessly connect or charge your devices through dual full-function USB Type-C ports, while Wi-Fi 6 and HDMI 2.1 connectivity enhance your digital experiences to be faster, smoother, and more enjoyable.
- Unlock More with AcerSense: Intuitive device control is available at the touch of a button with AcerSense, which manages battery life, storage, and apps for optimal performance. Acer TNR solution and Acer PurifiedVoice enhance your video calling experience to a new level of clarity and quality.
What did the dispute mean for HEVC support?
Codec licensing, hardware capability and software availability are related but different. A laptop may contain a hardware HEVC decoder while the operating system, bundled media player or editing application does not expose that capability by default. Conversely, a separately installed codec component may enable playback without changing the underlying graphics hardware.
Reports said some Acer systems could return to Germany without preinstalled HEVC support, with customers able to add the required software through official third-party channels. That does not establish that HEVC was removed from every Acer product or that all ASUS systems had identical behavior. Anyone working with 4K or 8K camera files, editing, streaming or playback should verify decode and encode support in the exact operating system and applications they use.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How was the sales halt resolved?
On 22–23 June 2026, reports said Acer and ASUS had reached arrangements with Nokia involving arbitration or an arbitration agreement. The companies resumed German distribution and marketing, and the court proceedings were withdrawn or otherwise moved toward resolution.
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Best Value
- Exceptional Performance and Productivity: Experience smooth and responsive performance powered by a new, more powerful 8-Core Intel Core 3 processor N355, 8GB memory and fast 128GB UFS storage. Enjoy extended productivity thanks to exceptional battery life and the support of Copilot, your everyday AI companion.
- Copilot in Windows - your AI Assistant: Do more, quicker than ever across multiple applications with the centralized generative AI assistance of Copilot in Windows Accessible with a single touch of the Copilot Key
- Immersive Visuals: With its narrow bezel design the 15.6" 1080p Full HD IPS display is perfect for casual web browsing and watching movies or streaming, allowing for a sharp, detailed view of what's in front of you. And with Acer BluelightShield, lower the levels of blue light to lessen the negative effects of blue light exposure.
- User-Friendly by Design: Seamlessly connect or charge your devices through dual full-function USB Type-C ports, while Wi-Fi 6 and HDMI 2.1 connectivity enhance your digital experiences to be faster, smoother, and more enjoyable.
- Unlock More with AcerSense: Intuitive device control is available at the touch of a button with AcerSense, which manages battery life, storage, and apps for optimal performance. Acer TNR solution and Acer PurifiedVoice enhance your video calling experience to a new level of clarity and quality.
The royalty rate and other commercial terms were not made public. It is therefore not possible to say what either company pays Nokia, how the parties calculated any licence, or whether the arrangement applies identically to every future model.
See the June reports from ComputerBase, ChannelPartner and Computer Bild.
What German buyers should check now
- Current availability: The June resolution ended the reported blanket manufacturer sales stoppage, but model-level stock and pricing can change. Check the official German store or an authorised retailer before paying.
- HEVC behavior: Confirm whether the exact model includes preinstalled HEVC support, requires a separate operating-system component, and supports the codec in your chosen applications.
- Warranty territory: Imported machines can have different service coverage, keyboard layouts, plugs, return procedures and regional software.
- Existing ownership: The 2026 injunctions did not make previously purchased computers unlawful to own or use.
- Retailer documentation: Businesses should retain records showing product source, import route and distribution status, particularly when buying from outside Germany.
Why codec patents can affect ordinary PCs
HEVC is embedded in phones, televisions, streaming devices, cameras, graphics hardware and computer software. A device maker may respond to licensing exposure by paying for a licence, shipping a feature disabled, omitting a preinstalled codec, or limiting a configuration in one market. Those choices can change the out-of-box experience without changing the hardware’s theoretical decoding capability.
Nokia has pursued other licensing disputes involving video-capable products, illustrating how patents connected with widely used standards can affect mainstream hardware. That broader pattern does not mean every HEVC patent is standard-essential or that every product using HEVC infringes; those questions depend on the particular patent claims and legal findings.
Quick Recap
What remains unknown
- the confidential financial and royalty terms of the June arrangements;
- the final claim-by-claim scope of the Munich injunctions;
- whether every affected model returned with the same HEVC software configuration;
- whether future products will ship with HEVC enabled by default; and
- which individual models are in stock in Germany on any particular day.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
