Apple vs Nokia to be prolonged court battle

Nokia as a response to Apple's countersuit on Thursday put forward a motion to dismiss Apple's claims. The argument insists that Apple's counterclaims are "designed to divert attention" away from the iPhone's alleged violation of Nokia's 3G patents. In the 28-page motion, it maintains that it tried negotiating "fair" royalties with Apple but that the American company doesn't have a right to sue simply because it feels the rates are too steep or the contract harsh.

"Try as it might, Apple cannot change the fact that a license offer does not become unlawful simply because one of the parties finds it subjectively unacceptable," Nokia said.

Among the more detailed claims, Nokia rejected Apple's Sherman Act antitrust claim as contradictory. Apple can't assert that Nokia has a monopoly over 3G standards through patents but promptly argue it doesn't need those patents to use the standards, the Finnish phone maker said. The motion also maintains that Apple hasn't provided concrete examples of just how Nokia's terms would have broken the law and that Apple misrepresented the negotiations. Apple has purportedly argued that it was required to license out non-essential patents when Nokia had made offers with no such conditions.

Apple had further argued that Nokia had deliberately withheld disclosure of patents to 'catch' other companies and that Nokia had breached a promise through the terms it offered. Nokia as the defendant denied both, arguing that it had revealed patents in step with the law and that the express contract between the two overrides any perceived broken promises.

As of Friday afternoon, Apple wasn't yet known to have filed a response to the call for dismissal. However, additional documents show that main hearings in the case won't begin until mid-2012. The delay is partly due to an ITC halt to proceedings as it makes its own determinations as to whether either company violated each other's patents.

By Electronista Staff