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December 13, 2009
Apple, maker of the iconic
iPhone, hit back Friday in a
legal row with Nokia and
countersued the Finnish
telecom giant, alleging it had
breached 13 Apple patents.
Apple accused Nokia, the
world's largest mobile phone
maker, of infringing the
patents held by the Cupertino,
California company.
"Other companies must compete
with us by inventing their own
technologies, not just by
stealing ours," Apple vice
president Bruce Sewell said in
a brief statement.
The move came after Nokia in
October accused its US rival
of infringing 10 Nokia mobile
phone technology patents with
the iPhone.
According to Nokia, the
patents cover "wireless data,
speech coding, security and
encryption and are infringed
by all Apple iPhone models
shipped since the iPhone was
introduced in 2007."
Ilkka Rahnasto, deputy head of
Nokia's legal department,
accused Apple at the time of
"attempting to get a free ride
on the back of Nokia's
innovation."
Apple countersued in federal
court in the eastern state of
Delaware, where Nokia filed
its complaint against Apple.
Nokia is trying to buoy a
sinking position in the mobile
telephone market by getting
its hands on iPhone technology
and charging "exorbitant" fees
for patented technology
allegedly intrinsic to
industry standards, Apple charged.
Apple denied infringing on
Nokia patents and rejected the
notion that technology at
issue in the Finnish firm's
lawsuit is essential to any
industry standard.
"Nokia's demands appear to be
driven by declines in its own
mobile phone business," Apple
said in a 79-page counterclaim
filed with the court.
"Nokia has been attempting to
use its allegedly
standards-essential patents to
help regain what Nokia has
lost in the marketplace."
Nokia posted its first
quarterly loss in a decade in
October amid falling sales.
Analysts said the poor results
were partly due to the growing
popularity of the iPhone and
Research in Motion's
Blackberry over Nokia models.
Apple reported record
quarterly sales of 7.4 million
iPhones in October.
Nokia made agreements to let
its patented technology be
crafted into industry
standards and now has a
"hold-up" power that it
"abusively seeks to wield,"
Apple argued in court paperwork.
If the technology is critical
to standards, Nokia is
betraying a commitment to
license it on "fair,
reasonable, and
non-discriminatory terms,"
Apple maintained.
Along with demanding steep
royalties, Nokia is insisting
on "grantbacks" that permit
the company to use Apple
technology, the iPhone maker
said in legal documents.
Nokia is already using Apple
smartphone technology without
permission, the California
firm charged.
"This attempt by Nokia to
leverage patents previously
pledged to industry standards
is an effort to free ride on
the commercial success of
Apple's innovative iPhone
while avoiding liability for
copying the iPhone and
infringing Apple's patents,"
Apple said in its filing.
Apple is asking the court to
award it unspecified financial
damages and dismiss the suit
filed by Nokia.
Nokia told AFP that it is
studying Apple's claim "and
will respond in due course.”
Source: Afp, New York
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