Two years after the arrival of the first generation iPhone, Nokia has suddenly woken up to realize that apple has actually infringed on some of its patents!
The company has sued Apple in the Delaware District Court alleging that Apple's iPhone infringes Nokia patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards. There are 10 patents that Nokia says Apple has infringed upon. In a press release announcing it, Nokia states, "The ten patents in suit relate to technologies fundamental to making devices which are compatible with one or more of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA) and wireless LAN standards. The patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007."
Nokia's Legal and IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) vice president Ilkka Rahnasto said, "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."
During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 40 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with over 10,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of GSM technologies and its evolution to UMTS / 3G WCDMA as well as wireless LAN, which is also demonstrated by Nokia's strong patent position in these technologies.
Apple is yet to respond to the claim by Nokia and it would be interesting to see how it is going to deal this issue.
Oct 25, 2009
Nokia sues Apple!
