Nokia has announced that it has filed a series of complaints against the Apple in Germany and the United States, as the company from Cupertino would have violated numerous patents of the Finnish manufacturer. Nokia claims that Apple has not complied with the previous agreement signed almost five years ago. According to some industry experts, the legal action Nokia is a defensive measure against the antitrust case filed yesterday by Apple.
Nokia underlines in the press release published on the official website that, following the acquisition of NSN (Nokia Siemens Network) in 2013 and Alcatel-Lucent in 2016, the company now owns "three valuable portfolios of intellectual property", a result of investments in excess of 115 billion dollars in research and development in over 20 years. It is tens of thousands of patents which cover major technologies used in smartphones, tablets, PCS and other similar devices. Apple had agreed in 2011 to pay royalties on certain patents, but has subsequently refused to license other patents used in many of its products.
Ilkka Rahnasto, head of division, Patent Business of Nokia, said:
Through our constant investment in research and development, Nokia has created or contributed to many of the fundamental technologies used in mobile devices today, including Apple products. After several years of negotiations to try to reach an agreement that covers the use of these patents by Apple, we decided to take the initiative to defend our rights.
The complaints, filed with the Regional Courts of Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich in Germany and the District Court of Texas (United States), cover 32 patents relating to a variety of technologies, including display, user interface, software, antenna, chipset, and video encoding. Nokia will file additional complaints against Apple in other jurisdictions.
Almost at the same time, the company Apple has sued Nokia in the District Court of California. Apple accuses the Finnish manufacturer of their conspired with eight other companies to get a sum of money greater than they should. A company spokesman of Apple has said that Nokia has become a "patent troll" and try to extort money from Apple, asking the payment of royalties for patents that should be licensed at a reasonable price (FRAND).
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