Nokia files 2nd ITC complaint after loss to Apple

Nokia refused to accept its loss to Apple at the ITC last week and said on Tuesday that it had already filed a second complaint against Apple. The new motion alleges that virtually every device Apple makes, including iPads, iPhones, iPods, and Macs, is using technology from one of seven Nokia patents. They copy technology for Bluetooth accessories, call quality, data sync, multitasking operating systems and location positioning, Nokia claimed.

The Finnish company hoped the sheer weight of new patent claims would make Apple give in. There were 46 Nokia patents in total being leveled against the iPhone maker, some of which were first filed " more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone," Intellectual Property VP Paul Melin claimed. Nokia sidestepped Apple's countersuits, which have argued that Nokia began copying Apple's uses of touchscreens and other technology once it began losing market share to the iPhone.

Nokia also matched the ITC dispute with a matching lawsuit in Delaware, where Apple transferred an earlier case. Cases in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK were still underway for both sides.

The original Nokia ITC complaint was submitted after Apple refused to bend when Nokia had argued that it owed royalties on wireless. Nokia has insisted that it was key to UMTS-based 3G technology, but Apple balked in part because Nokia would only take a settlement through a cross-licensing deal that would guarantee it access to iPhone technology and force Apple to give up some of its advantage.

Nokia notably waited until it was sliding in market share to trigger many of its legal complaints.

By Electronista Staff