14 DAY TRIAL // Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has just announced the filing of patent infringement complaints against Apple in the UK High Court, Dusseldorf and Mannheim District Courts in Germany and the District Court of the Hague, Netherlands.
According to the leading handset vendor, Apple is infringing a large number of its patents with the devices sold in these countries, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
“These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the US International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts,” said Paul Melin, vice president, Intellectual Property at Nokia.
“The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include several which enable compelling user experiences.
“For example, using a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone.”
The UK filing covers a number of 4 patents that Nokia holds, and which are related to “touch user interface, on-device app stores, signal noise suppression and modulator structures,” the mobile phone maker announced.
The filing Nokia announced in Dusseldorf, Germany includes a number of 7 Nokia patents that are related to antenna structures, touch Uis, chipsets and messaging functionality.
According to the company, 5 Nokia patents that are related to on-device app stores, caller ID, illumination of the screen, as well we to the inclusion of multiple radios, are covered in the filing in Mannheim, Germany.
As for Nokia's filing in the Hague, Netherlands, it covers a number of only two patents, one related to signal noise suppression, while the other would be related to data card functionality.
None of the aforementioned patents would be essential to any wireless communication standard, the mobile phone maker added.
“During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 40 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with around 11,000 patent families,” Nokia states.
“Nokia is a world leader in the development of handheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstrated by Nokia's strong patent position.”