Nokia goes after Russian blogger in protoype row

Nokia has asked the Russian authorities to help it get back some prototype handsets from the blogger Eldar Murtazin.

Murtazin, the editor-in-chief of Mobile-Review.com, "has been very public about his possession of unauthorised Nokia property", the Finnish handset manufacturer said in a statement. "We have asked Mr. Murtazin for the return of all Nokia property in his possession. As he has declined to reply, we asked the Russian authorities to assist us."

In April, Mobile-Review.com ran a preview of the Nokia N8, days before Nokia officially unveiled the Symbian^3 handset. The preview, which included detailed photographs, was less than flattering about the device.

"To be clear, we have no issue with individuals voicing their opinions about our company and our products," Nokia said in its statement. "At Nokia, we pride ourselves on being an open and transparent company. However, the protection of our intellectual property is something we take very seriously."

"This is not about attacking bloggers or people who give critical reviews of our products. So as we don't confuse the issue, while this individual does operate a blog, he is also very public about being a 'consultant' to other international mobile manufacturers. He has confirmed he is in possession of unauthorised Nokia prototypes and other intellectual property, and we have asked for their return. Whether Mr. Murtazin's actions were as a blogger, or whether he is acting in the capacity of a consultant in order to provide information to his clients is an open question."

In a series of tweets, Murtazin appeared to dispute Nokia's account of events, suggesting that he had indeed replied to the company's communications and arguing that Nokia had no evidence to back up their claims. "Actually i know a lot about internal life of companies, so drama could be good :)," he said in one of the most recent tweets.