Acer and Asus' German websites are down in wake of lawsuit, but Acer says its own will 'be up again shortly' so customers can get BIOS updates again

An Asus TUF Gaming A16 2025 on a white background, fit with an RTX 5050. — (Image credit: Future)

Last week, both Asus and Acer were blocked from directly selling gaming PCs in Germany due to a lawsuit from phone manufacturer Nokia. This not only leaves potential customers with fewer choices when it comes to their next rig, but now that the websites are down, they are left without updates too. Or at least without some extra effort.

However, Acer has informed me: "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."

Four Asus X870 and X870E motherboards — (Image credit: Asus)

The lawsuit from Nokia alleges that Asus and Acer's PCs (alongside Hisense's smart TV) infringe three of its patents. They are related to the H.265 (HEVC) video code standard. Though Hisense settled the case in January, Asus and Acer are still fighting it. The blocking of direct sales is an injunction from the Munich court.

Notably, the lawsuit does not include monitors, peripherals or graphics from either brand in the region, so the sites going offline is particularly strange.

Users who have bought items not hit in the lawsuit from either brand are also seeing a negative effect here. With Acer set to send a new website live, here's hoping Asus follows suit.

I have also reached out to Asus for comment and will update this story if I hear back.

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James is a more recent PC gaming convert, often admiring graphics cards, cases, and motherboards from afar. It was not until 2019, after just finishing a degree in law and media, that they decided to throw out the last few years of education, build their PC, and start writing about gaming instead. In that time, he has covered the latest doodads, contraptions, and gismos, and loved every second of it. Hey, it’s better than writing case briefs.

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