Acer and Asus German sites down after Nokia lawsuit; Acer says site will return

Last week both Asus and Acer were blocked from directly selling gaming PCs in Germany after a lawsuit from phone manufacturer Nokia. That has left shoppers with fewer choices and, with the companies' German websites currently offline, without easy access to updates unless they take extra steps.

Acer said: "The site should be up again shortly but in the meantime German customers can contact Acer support via the website, or alternatively also download updates here." The company expects to restore its site soon so customers can get BIOS updates again. Nokia alleges the PCs, alongside a Hisense smart TV, infringe three patents related to the H.265 (HEVC) video codec standard; Hisense settled the case in January while Asus and Acer continue to fight it.

The Munich court's injunction blocks direct sales, and notably the lawsuit does not cover monitors, peripherals or graphics, making the sites going offline particularly odd.

Germany, Munich

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