Nokia Files More Patent Complaints Against Apple--Update
December 22 2016 - 1:14PM
Dow Jones News
By Matthias Verbergt
Nokia Corp. said Thursday it has filed additional complaints
against Apple Inc., alleging the iPhone maker has infringed 40 of
its patents.
The Finnish company said it now has filed actions in 11
countries in total, saying Apple violated 40 of its patents
covering technologies such as display, user interface, software,
antenna, chipsets and video coding.
On Wednesday, Nokia said it had filed actions against Apple with
courts in the U.S. and Germany, for infringements of 32
patents.
The suits were filed with the regional courts in Düsseldorf,
Mannheim and Munich in Germany and the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Texas.
Nokia said it has expanded litigation to courts in Finland, the
U.K., Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, France, China and
Japan. The company said it has also filed a suit against Apple with
the U.S. International Trade Commission.
The move marks the next step in a mobile-patent licensing
conflict between Nokia and the Cupertino, Calif.-based company that
has escalated in just a few days.
On Tuesday, Apple filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of California, arguing that Nokia excluded
some patents from that agreement and transferred them to
third-party companies "to be used for extorting excessive
royalties" from Apple. It asked the court to award damages and rule
that Nokia breached its contract.
In 2011, Apple settled a two-year patent case with Nokia and
agreed to pay licensing royalties for use of some Nokia patents in
iPhones. Nokia was able to secure a favorable settlement worth an
estimated $720 million from Apple.
Nokia said it has negotiated several years with Apple to reach
an agreement on the use of the patents before deciding it would
take action. In a reaction to Nokia's announcement on Wednesday, an
Apple spokesman said the company has always been willing to pay a
"fair price" for patents covering the technology in its
products.
"Unfortunately, Nokia has refused to license their patents on a
fair basis and is now using the tactics of a patent troll to
attempt to extort money from Apple," he added.
An Apple spokesman on Thursday reiterated the company's
Wednesday statement.
The iPhone maker updated the lawsuit it filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California to include
Nokia as defendant. The company on Thursday also filed a lawsuit in
London arguing that Nokia is refusing to license patents on a fair
and reasonable basis.
Nokia was once the world's largest cellphone maker, but its
business declined rapidly not long after the introduction of the
iPhone in 2007. Nokia abandoned mobile-device manufacturing in
2014, when it sold its mobile-phone business to Microsoft Corp. for
EUR5.44 billion ($5.86 billion) to focus on network equipment.
Nokia's patents, however, still cover technology used in many of
today's smartphones and tablets. As sales of networking equipment
are in decline world-wide owing to lower spending by mobile service
providers, Nokia is increasingly dependent on its highly profitable
patent business.
Tripp Mickle contributed to this article
Write to Matthias Verbergt at Matthias.Verbergt@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 22, 2016 12:59 ET (17:59 GMT)
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