UPDATE 3-German court dismisses Nokia case against Qualcomm

(Adds Qualcomm comment, share price)

By Nicola Leske and Tarmo Virki

BERLIN/OULU, Finland, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A German regional court on Tuesday dismissed a case on procedural grounds in which Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) filed a complaint against U.S chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) patents in Germany.

The world's top cell phone maker and Qualcomm Inc are in numerous legal disputes after a key cross-licensing agreement over technology patents expired in April 2007, worrying investors on both side of Atlantic.

The court in Mannheim said Nokia could appeal against the decision and a Nokia spokeswoman said the Finnish firm would consider this.

"Nokia is confident that its substantive claim is well-founded and is considering if it will appeal the court's decision," Anne Eckert said.

Nokia wanted the German court to rule Qualcomm's patents are exhausted and that it should not be able to charge twice for its patents, billing first chipset suppliers and then also handset makers.

Qualcomm technology ends up in Nokia phones through chips from Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which pays for the use of Qualcomm patents.

San Diego-based Qualcomm said it was pleased with the ruling and expected a written decision within a few days.