Nokia has filed suit against Apple with the US International Trade Commission, claiming widespread patent violations, in the latest volley in the patent war between the two companies.
The suit states that Apple “infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers,” Nokia said.
The seven patents in the complaint cover UI, camera, antenna and power management technologies. According to Nokia, the patents help the handset maker reduce manufacturing costs, improve battery life and reduce the size of its products.
The litigation follows a lawsuit initiated by Nokia in the US state of Delaware this October. That suit claims that the iPhone violates Nokia patents covering the GSM, UMTS and WLAN standards.
Nokia alleges that every iPhone model sold has infringed on these patents - which cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.
filing a counter-suit
“While our litigation in Delaware is about Apple's attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia's investment in wireless standards, the ITC case filed today is about Apple's practice of building its business on Nokia's proprietary innovation,” Nokia general manager of patent licensing Paul Melin said.
The ITC will likely decide whether to pursue the case within the next 30 days, but any possible injunction is not likely to be handed down until at least 2011, a Nokia spokesperson toldReuters.
The Delaware lawsuit seeks royalties which could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars per year.