Just days after Finnish cell phone giant Nokia was rebuffed by the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Finnish company is back with another patent-infringement complaint against Apple. Tuesday Nokia filed suit charging the Cupertino, Calif.’s devices – including the iPad, iPhone and iPad – violated seven patents.
Although not offering specific patents, Nokia claims they cover technology used for multi-tasking, data synchronization, call quality, positioning and Bluetooth. “Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone,” charges Nokia’s Paul Melin, vice president of intellectual property.
Friday, the ITC ruled Apple had not infringed five Nokia patents. The ITC began investigating Nokia’s previous infringement claims January 2010. Nokia disagrees with the commission’s ruling, saying it will wait to see the ITC’s full decision before deciding its next step.
Nokia has also filed patent infringement lawsuits against Apple in Europe, including the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. Apple has countersued Nokia. The legal exchanges threaten the Microsoft battle with the U.S. Justice Department as one of the longest-running exchanges in the tech industry.
