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Business News Digital Legal
Nokia sue Apple over iPhone
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 23 October 2009
And now an intellectual property dispute of a different kind to that on which we usually ramble. Nokia have filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in Delaware accusing the IT firm of infringing its patents in the creation of their iPhone.
According to Billboard, Nokia claim that among the ten patents infringed by the iPhone are those relating to GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN standards. The alleged infringement has occurred ever since the iPhone was launched – I think Nokia have spent the last two years trying to persuade Apple to pay it a licence fee for allegedly using said patents.
Confirming the legal action, Nokia said that it has developed “one of the strongest and broadest patent portfolios in the industry, investing more than 40 billion euros in R&D during the last two decades. Much of this intellectual property, including the patents in suit, has been declared essential to industry standards”.
Nokia legal bod Ilkka Rahnasto added: “The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for. Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation”.
Apple are yet to respond.
