Global Biz

Nokia broadens Apple legal dispute

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-31 10:00

NEW YORK: Nokia Corp is broadening a legal dispute it already has with Apple Inc over the iPhone, saying almost all of the company's other products also violate the Finnish phone maker's patents.

Nokia said that it has filed a complaint against Apple with the US International Trade Commission, alleging Apple's iPhone, iPods and computers all violate Nokia's intellectual property rights.

At issue are key features found in Apple products, including aspects of user interface, cameras, antenna and power management technologies, Nokia said. The company claims that the technologies in question help cut manufacturing costs, reduce gadget size and prolong battery life.

A household name in Asia and Europe, Nokia is a smaller player in the United States, where its smart phones face tough competition from Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd's BlackBerry devices. Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker, has cautioned that its own market share volume, currently at some 38 percent, would be flat next year.

The company, which is based in Espoo, Finland, has already sued Apple in US District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, over the massively popular iPhone, claiming it infringes on 10 of its patents related to phone calls and Wi-Fi access.

Apple has denied the charges and this month countered with its own lawsuit in the Delaware court, saying Nokia has copied aspects of the iPhone in its devices. Apple claims Nokia is violating its patent rights on technology for connecting phones to computers, teleconferencing and touch-screen menus, among other things.

Federal lawsuits allow companies to seek monetary damages and court orders to end certain practices. With complaints before the US International Trade Commission, companies could get an order for Customs to stop imports of products made with the disputed technology. Many of Apple's products and parts are made overseas.

Apple, which has its headquarters in Cupertino, California, did not return messages seeking comment.