Nokia sues Apple again, claiming patent infringement
Nokia has filed new patent infringement clams with the US International Trade Commission against Apple, the company disclosed on Tuesday. At issue are seven additional patents which Apple is accused by the Finnish phone maker of infringing in "virtually all products."
This latest move comes after the ITC ruled in Apple's favor on Friday, saying the Cupertino company was not committing infringement on five Nokia patents. Those patents were part of an earlier suit filed in October 2009. Nokia said it did not agree with the judge's decision, and has yet to decide its next steps.
The two sides have sued each other several times, including Apple's initial countersuit in December 2009, and Nokia again over the iPad last May. Other court actions are ongoing in several US courts as well as in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands.
"Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone," Nokia intellectual property chief Paul Melin said in a statement. "Apple must stop building its products using Nokia's proprietary innovation."
At issue is Apple's use of technologies covering the "areas of multi-tasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories."
Nokia claims it has invested some 43 billion euros in research and development, and says it holds over 10,000 patents. Regardless of its strong patent position, the company still finds itself falling increasingly behind not only Apple but other competitors. This could have been one of the main reasons it chose to align itself with Microsoft's Windows Phone technologies.
Nokia has its own platform, Symbian, however in many major wireless markets the operating system has little if any traction. The Finnish phone maker's increasingly weak position here in the US has not helped either.
Apple declined to comment on the case as it is company policy not to comment on pending litigation.