Nokia Corp. said that it filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) charging that technology in “virtually all” of Apple Computer Inc.’s mobile phones, music players and computers violates the Finnish company’s patents.
Nokia alleges that “Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers.” The Finnish cellphone maker said the seven patents in the complaint relate to user-interface as well as camera, antenna and power-management technologies that Apple uses in its products.
“Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices,” said Paul Melin, Nokia’s general manager for patent licensing. “This action is about protecting the results of such pioneering development.”
As per the Nokia complaint, the ‘imported’ electronic devices include Apple’s smartphones – iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G; its portable music players – iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPod Classic; and its computers – iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, MacBook MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air.
In October, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple in U.S. District Court in Delaware regarding 10 patents related to wireless handsets, which Nokia says Apple has refused to license. Every iPhone model since the original, introduced in 2007, infringes on those patents, Nokia has charged.
The company said that the patents were important to its success because they were tied to improved user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size and longer battery life for Nokia products.
The company asked for a jury trial, an injunction to stop sales of infringing electronics, and unspecified damages.