Nokia: Most of Apple Product Line Infringes Our Patents
Oh, it’s really on now.
Nokia today upped the ante in its ongoing patent dispute with Apple, filing a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in which it claims that Apple infringes its patents “in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers.”
According to the Finnish cellphone maker, Apple (AAPL) is illegally leveraging seven Nokia (NOK) patents related to user-interface design and camera, antenna and power-management technologies to “create key features” in its products.
“Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices,” said Paul Melin, general manager of patent licensing at Nokia. “This action is about protecting the results of such pioneering development….The ITC case filed today is about Apple’s practice of building its business on Nokia’s proprietary innovation.”
Nokia’s ITC complaint escalates a nasty legal battle that began in October when it sued Apple, claiming the company’s iPhone infringed 10 of its patents. Apple subsequently countersued, alleging Nokia copied the iPhone and 13 of the patented technologies on which it is based.
I’ve asked Apple for comment and will update here if the company responds.