January 2010
Apple seeks to block Nokia imports into US
In its latest counter move against Nokia, Apple has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) asking that it block imports of Nokia’s popular smart phones into America.
Ongoing legal dispute between the two started in October 2009 when Nokia filed a US law suit against Apple claiming that the iPhone infringed 10 of its patents. Apple is counter suing the Finnish phone giant for infringement of 13 of its own patents and has based its complaint to the ITC on such patent infringement and allegations that Nokia has stolen their technology.
Unsurprisingly Apple’s complaint follows a similar one filed by Nokia to the ITC in December 2009 alleging infringement of a further 7 of its patents and expanding the scope of its claims of infringement beyond the iPhone to Apple’s various other products including its iPods and Mac computers.
A representative for Nokia has stated that it will defend itself vigorously and that this latest move by Apple does not in any way alter the fact that its iPhone has been taking a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation since its launch in 2007.
BRIFFA comment
Nokia has spent billions on research and development in the last two decades and has licences in place with nearly all of the major mobile phone companies.
Apple is also well known for developing a lot of its own technology from scratch in-house and contends that after beating Nokia to smart phone market Nokia has stolen their newly developed smart phone technology rather than developing their own.
A lengthy and costly legal battle seems inevitable with the ITC and US Courts not being expected to reach decisions until at least mid 2011 and it seeming unlikely that the two companies will be able agree on an out of court settlement.
For more information on patent protection and enforcement please do not hesitate to get into contact with one of our Intellectual Property Lawyers via info@briffa.com.