14 DAY TRIAL // The legal battle between Cupertino-based Apple and Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia will continue in the United States, it seems, as the U.S. International Trade Commission announced recently that it would investigate Apple's complaint against Nokia. Apple's complaint includes alleged patent infringements, and follows a lawsuit the company filed against the leading handset vendor last year.
However, the story started with Nokia suing Apple back in October over patent infringement. According to the Finnish company, Apple used its patented technologies in wireless communications for the development of the popular iPhone. Soon after, Apple countersued Nokia foe patent infringement regarding the user interface of its smartphones which, the Cupertino-based company says, are copying its iPhone UI.
Both companies turned to ITC in December, and the Commission already announced that it would investigate Apple so as to see whether Nokia's complaint regarding patent infringement is correct or not. Nokia asked ITC to block the distribution of all Apple devices on US soil, and it seems that Apple made the same move regarding Nokia's handsets.
According to Reuters, the legal dispute between the two industry giants “potentially involves hundreds of millions of dollars in annual royalties.” Espoo, Finland-based Nokia is currently the largest mobile phone maker in the world, although it is not the leader in the smartphone market. As for Apple, it entered the mobile phone area back in 2007 with the iPhone, and has become increasingly popular ever since.
As with the investigation that will be made in Nokia's complaint against Apple, this case will be assigned to one of ITC's six administrative law judges. The Commission will “set a target date for completing its probe with 45 days after beginning the investigation,” Reuters states. It will certainly be very interesting to see how things turn out in the end, especially since both companies seem set to continue the fight.