Nokia filed a lawsuit in Delaware’s U.S. District Court on Thursday, alleging that Apple’s iPhone infringes on 10 of the Finland-based company’s patents. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nokia’s filing says the iPhone benefits from the unauthorized use of fundamental mobile technologies covered by Nokia patents that the handset giant claims have contributed to the development of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA), and wireless LAN standards in use worldwide.
“The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for,” said Nokia Vice President Ilkka Rahnasto. “Apple is also expected to follow this principle.”
No Free Ride
Nokia said it has invested more than 40 billion euros (US$60 billion) over the previous two decades in the development of technology essential to industry standards. In recognition of this, Rahnasto said, virtually all the leading mobile-device vendors except Apple have concluded licensing agreements with Nokia.
“By refusing to agree to appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation,” Rahnasto said.
The patents at the center of the dispute cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption. According to Nokia, all iPhone models that have shipped since Apple’s trailblazing smartphone was introduced in June 2007 infringe on key Nokia patents.
The court action comes after the handset maker reported a $1.36 billion loss in its latest quarter — even as its rivals saw their smartphone sales soar.
While Nokia’s results have shown “a steady improvement throughout the year, they are far from good, and are evidence of the challenging period that Nokia is experiencing,” noted IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. “Samsung, Apple and Research in Motion are doing significantly better than Nokia, and better than the…