Apple Vs. Nokia: The Battle of Britain
The Apple-Nokia patent battle has spilled over into the United Kingdom. Cupertino put the screws to its Finnish rival once again today, suing it in Britain for violating many of the patents at issue in the stateside countersuit it filed last year.
This new action carries over nine of the 13 claims in the original complaint and, like the original, accuses Nokia of attempting to copy the iPhone As Apple said in that document, “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.”
Why open another front in a legal battle already underway in the States? Simple: Better odds. As Stanford Law School professor Mark Lemley told me, “It gives them, if you’ll forgive me, two bites at the apple. They might win in one country even if they lose in another.”
Nokia had little to say on the Apple’s sudden escalation of hostilities. “Apple’s action is an unsurprising development, which seems designed to put pressure on the ongoing dialogue between both companies,” the company said in a statement.
PREVIOUSLY:
- Nokia Sues Apple
- Did Nokia Sue Apple Before Apple Could Sue Nokia?
- Nokia’s New Focus Is Mobile Services? Sure It’s Not Lawsuits Against Apple?
- Apple Countersues Nokia for Copying iPhone (Plus Disputed Patents and Full Text of Counterclaim)
- ITC Investigating Nokia Over Apple Patent Complaints and Vice Versa
- Nokia Accuses Apple of “Legal Alchemy.” Stops Short of “Chymistry” and “Heresy.”