Apple Friday sued Nokia, claiming the Finnish cell phone giant infringed 13 patents. The countersuit follows an October lawsuit by Nokia which alleged the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker had infringed 10 patents.
“Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s General Counsel and senior vice president in a statement.
The lawsuit follows a statement to investors stating Apple would “vigorously defend” Nokia’s allegations. In October, Nokia sued Cupertino, alleging the company was “trying to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovations.” The original lawsuit named technologies covering GSM, 3G WSDMA and WLAN.
Nokia has suffered a number of market stumbles because of greater competition by Apple’s iPhone. On Thursday, Nokia shuttered flagship stores in New York and Chicago – a move coming just days after closing its Regent Street store in London. The cell phone maker said it would emphasize its relationships with carriers.
Apple has shown a 50 percent rise in iPhone sales, making it the third-largest smartphone seller. Those numbers came amid Nokia slipping to 39.3 percent of the market – down from 42.3 percent of sales in 2008. To cap it off, in November, Apple surpassed Nokia in profitability.
