Iran's Trade Promotion Organisation has demanded the cancellation of a licence granted to a local company using the Nokia brand name, citing serious trademark infringement, according to an official document reviewed by Bne IntelliNews on August 19.

The company called Atila Hamrah Ayhan sold the Nokia, Samsung and several other brands under its own name in what appears to be a large mobile phone refurbishment business backed by the Iranian state.

In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade's data technology centre, Mehdi Zeighami, the Deputy Minister and head of the Trade Promotion Organisation, urged the immediate revocation of permits for the firm involved in producing mobile phones under the "Iranian Nokia" label.

Later in the day,  Iran's Secretariat for Facilitating Production and Removing Obstacles backed the Iranian company's claims. The Secretariat’s head declared the company’s production activities legal and, in a letter to the head of the Data Technology and Information Security Centre, called for halting any actions against the company. The official also requested that Atila Hamrah Ayan not be classified as illegal within Iran's Comprehensive Trade System, according to Digiato.

The correspondence references Iran's 2007 trademark registration law as the legal basis for the action, from when Nokia was active in the Iranian mobile phone sector with its headquarters on Gandhi street.

This move follows over two years of controversy, which began when reports surfaced in 2022 about unauthorised Nokia-branded mobile phones being manufactured in Iran.

The Iranian company involved, Atila Hamrah Ayan, has claimed it obtained a legal licence for mass production of Nokia-branded mobile phones under a contract with a UAE-based firm and approval from the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade. However, Nokia has firmly denied the existence of any such agreement. The Finnish company refuted the claim, asserting that it had not granted any production licences to the alleged UAE entity, the Iran-China Technology Exchange Centre, or the company now facing legal action. So far, no copy of the purported contract has been submitted to the court.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Nokia, through a representative in Iran, took legal action after discovering the unauthorised use of its brand. The Finnish company filed a criminal complaint for trademark violation and a civil lawsuit seeking to prohibit further use of the Nokia name. 

The legal filings allege that the company unlawfully used the Nokia brand on counterfeit products and affixed Nokia logos to its advertising, misleading and deceiving consumers. The complaint also points out the inferior quality of the counterfeit phones, warning of material and reputational harm to consumers. Nokia has requested the judiciary to issue an order to seize and remove the counterfeit goods from the market.

According to a report by Etelaat Newspaper, further investigations reveal that Nokia's official representative in Iran has sent samples of the counterfeit phones to Dubai and Finland for evaluation in Nokia's reference laboratories. The results reportedly confirm that these devices bear little resemblance to genuine Nokia phones, suffering from low quality and non-compliance with Nokia's standards. Consequently, the counterfeit Iranian-made Nokia phones are not considered comparable to the original products.

This also prompted a formal protest from Finland's ambassador to Iran and an official complaint from Nokia.

Abbas Aliabadi, Iran's Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, previously stated that the ministry would take necessary measures to halt the sale and importation of counterfeit products if the allegations were substantiated, CITNA reported citing Fars.

He also indicated that the matter would be referred to the appropriate authorities and dealt with in a prompt manner.

The recent letter, dated August 14, from Zeighami, explicitly targets Atila Hamrah Ayan, urging authorities to prevent it from further using the Nokia trademark.

The company is one of several operated by the Tehran Paksh Holding, in the electronics industry with new headquarters situated in the Iranian capital.

The Deputy Minister's request is supported by letters from the head of Iran's State Organisation for Registration of Deeds and Properties and the Foreign Ministry's Director-General for Western Europe, both confirming that the Iranian company does not have the requisite permission to use the Nokia brand.

Zeighami highlighted that the Nokia trademark is protected under Iranian law and called for immediate action to ensure that the company, identified by its national ID, ceases all use of the Nokia brand in the country's comprehensive trade system.

According to Nokia’s website, the company is still represented in Iran by Pishahang Communications Networks Development Company and NSN BO OY, details of these companies were not immediately available.

According to a 2020 SEC filing, “In connection with the business activities relating to Iran, we have two local offices in Iran that employed approximately 55 employees at the end of 2019 through a branch of a Finnish subsidiary.”

“Nokia is the controlling shareholder in Pishahang Communications Network Development Company (Pishahang). The other minority shareholder in Pishahang is Information Technology Application Development TACFAM Company (Tacfam).”

“We continue to maintain routine contacts with governmental agencies in Iran as required, for example, to maintain a legal presence and office facilities in Iran, pay taxes and employ Iranian nationals,” the company added.