Nokia Versus Apple Legal Battle Rages On

Nokia has filed yet another patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple on 29 Dec, alleging that Apple has infringed on seven of its patents.

The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. District Court in Delaware, is similar to the complaint Nokia made to the International Trade Commission concerning the same patents, also on 29 Dec.

The patents are “implementation patents” as opposed to “essential patents,” Nokia clarified in the document. It went on to state, “Nokia’s implementation patents—including the Asserted Patents—are particularly important to Nokia’s success because they permit Nokia to differentiate its products from those of its competitors.”

Nokia said Apple “infringed and continues to infringe” on its patents with, but not limited to, the sales of its “iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.”

The information covered by the patents includes device construction methods, camera sensor optimisation and touch-sensitive screens.

In the lawsuit, Nokia seeks judgment that the patents are valid and enforceable, damages sustained for the alleged infringement, “pre-judgment interest and post-judgment interest at the maximum rate allowed by law,” an injunction against Apple and its offending employees, compensation for attorneys’ fees, costs of the suit and “such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.”

Nokia logged its first complaint against Apple on 22 Oct, saying Apple infringed on 10 Nokia patents for GSM, WLAN and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) standards.

“By refusing to agree [to] appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation,” Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president of Nokia’s legal and intellectual property division, said in an 22 Oct. statement.

Apple answered on 12 Dec. with a suit of its own, alleging that Nokia infringed on 13 of its patents.

“Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel and senior vice president, wrote in a statement posted to Apple’s Website.