Apple, Nokia battle over patents

Nokia on Wednesday filed a suit directly against Apple in Europe and the US, claiming the company is still infringing on Nokia patents. The lawsuit covers 32 patents, including display, user interface, software and video-coding technology. Nokia said since settling that initial case, Apple has “declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other (parts) of its patented inventions, which are used by many Apple products.” In its lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Apple argued that Nokia already has agreements to license its patents for fair and reasonable terms, also know as “FRAND”. “But Nokia is transferring these patents to PAEs in order to aggressively pursue money,” a report in The Verge said on Thursday. 

Apple said this should not be allowed as it is “anticompetitive and abusive” to the Cupertino-based company and other technology firms.  Apple is behind the PAEs that Nokia has partnered with to pursue additional patent money. Apple says, these companies, which include Acacia Research and Conversant Property Management, are “conspiring with Nokia in a scheme to diffuse and abuse and, as the PAEs and Nokia fully intended, monetise those false promises by extracting exorbitant non-FRAND royalties in way Nokia could not.”