From what I understand, Nokia originally sued Apple over patents that Nokia has published and released to the "open" standards body to be licensed in good faith and at reasonable rates to interested 3rd parties, which it has done.
The problem from Apple's POV is that Nokia wants to charge Apple more than the "fair and reasonable" rate (due to the success of the iPhone) as is the norm for such "standards" fees PLUS is demanding access to Apple's patents and IP.
Why should Apple submit to such blackmail and "special" (over charging) treatment for licensing released "standards" vs other willing licensees?
(compared to Apple suing HTC over what Apple believes to be it's PATENTED and protected IP, not released for general (standards) consumption)
Nokia on Friday announced that it was again filing suit against Apple over alleged patent infringement in the iPhone and iPad 3G.
The Finnish company filed complaint against apple with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin.
Nokia specified five patents in the complaint, relating to:
- Technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission.
- Using positioning data in applications.
- Innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices.
(Interested in the specifics? ZDNet editor in chief Larry Dignan breaks it down over at Between the Lines.)
“We have taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia’s innovation,” said Paul Melin, General Manager, Patent Licensing at Nokia, in a statement.
Nokia has quite a strong portfolio of intellectual property, and claims some 11,000 patent families.
The move is the latest in what appears to be a legal free-for-all in the mobile space.
Apple and Nokia have been suing and countersuing each other repeatedly for IP:
- First, Nokia sued Apple in Delaware in Oct. 2009;
- Then Apple fought back in Dec. 2009;
- Then Nokia filed complaint with the International Trade Commission just before the New Year;
- Then Apple fired back again in Feb. 2010.
Furthermore, Apple sued manufacturer HTC in March over 20 patents related to the iPhone and HTC’s Google Android-based devices.
And now this fight. Frankly, I don’t understand what the point of all this really is. Posturing, perhaps? Defensive maneuvers for a later case? It’s unclear to me.
