Apple countersues Nokia
Returning a favor that Nokia bestowed upon it in October, Apple has filed suit against Nokia for illegally infringing against Apple patents for cell phone manufacturing and usage.
In their countersuit against the Finnish cell phone giant, Apple claims that the suit filed by Nokia is without merit and that the 10 patents cited in the suit are unenforceable. Moreover, Apple claims that Nokia is guilty of infringing upon 13 Apple patents, totally turning the tables on Nokia. All of these claims, however, will need to be sorted out by a court of law and with 23 different (and probably competing) patents involved, the original Nokia suit and the Apple countersuit may take a lot of legal wrangling and a long time to settle, according to an Ars Technica article.
Nokia’s suit involves 10 patents that cover areas of both 2G and 3G wireless connections, including Wi-Fi integrated into mobile phones. Nokia, a leader in the industry, has an extensive patent portfolio. It claims to have “over 10,000 patent families.” The company has been extraordinarily litigious in the area of cell phone technology. In the Apple instance, Nokia’s Vice President of legal and intellectual property Ilkka Rahnasto claimed that Apple absolutely refused to agree to Nokia’s licensing terms and that the Cupertino company was “attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.”
Apple’s position is naturally diametrically opposed to that of Nokia’s. Apple claims that it hasn’t infringed on Nokia’s patents with the iPhone and that Nokia’s intellectual property isn’t even essential to GSM and UMTS technology. Apple also says that Nokia demanded terms for its license agreement that weren’t reasonable, leading Apple to develop its own technologies. Last but not least Apple accused Nokia of playing copycat. “Nokia has demonstrated its willingness to copy Apple’s iPhone ideas as well as Apple’s basic computing technologies, all while demanding Apple pay for access to Nokia’s purported standards essential patent,” reads the complaint. Holy cow!
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