Nokia Suits Escalate Apple Mobile-Patent Fight

Nokia sued Apple saying the iPhone maker infringed several mobile patents, turning simmering tension between the companies into a bitter public legal battle on multiple fronts, according to Bloomberg. The Espoo, Finland-based company said Apple agreed to license patented inventions in 2011 but has refused to extend those agreements that are now expiring. Nokia filed complaints with the German Regional Courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, and in federal court in Marshall, Texas.

“This is a big deal, especially for the future of licensing revenues on standard-essential patents," Bloomberg Intelligence litigation analyst Matt Larson said, referring to patents that must be used to comply with technical industry standards like Wi-Fi. “Apple has regularly fought to keep royalty rates low, whereas Nokia is interested in getting as much value from its intellectual property as possible." Nokia and its Alcatel-Lucent USA unit filed two lawsuits against Apple in federal court claiming patent violations related to products including the iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, Mac computers and digital media players such as Apple TV.

In the first complaint, Nokia said Apple “steadfastly refused“ to license its patents for video coding at established industry rates. Apple continues to use those inventions, which allow for higher quality transmission over cellular networks with lower bandwidth requirements, for its streaming services, according to the complaint. In that case, Nokia seeks damages for the alleged infringement of eight patents by Apple.

The second suit accuses Apple of infringing 10 patents, many of which deal with transmitting and amplifying radio signals. Apple is also accused of violating a patent for translating natural language inquiries into database queries. Apple’s Siri digital assistant also violates a patent in this area, the complaint said. Nokia seeks damages equal to no less than reasonable royalties and a court order against Apple products found to infringe its patents.

Apple said that after it entered into a cross-license agreement with Nokia in 2011, the Finnish company launched “secret plans to monetize“ patents that weren’t part of the accord. Apple said Nokia has transformed itself out of desperation, based on its own “failure as a supplier of cell phones.“ “It changed from a company focused on supplying cell phones and other consumer products to a company bent on exploiting the patents that remain from its years as a successful cell phone supplier,“ Apple said in the complaint.