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Nokia sues Apple over patent infringement

December 21, 2016

Nokia has taken legal action against Apple before German and American courts, accusing the larger company of violating dozens of its patents. The contested patents include display, user interface and software systems.

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Nokia Communicator 9000, das erste Smartphone der Welt, 1996
Image: dpa/Nokia

The US-based Apple is using Nokia's inventions in "many" of its products, the Finnish company said on Wednesday. The two firms agreed on a license for some of Nokia's patents in 2011.

However, "Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple's products," Nokia's chief of patents Ilkka Rahnasto said in a statement.

"After several years of negotiations […] we are now taking action to defend our rights," he added.

Apple sues licensing firms

According to the statement, the legal dispute concerns 32 innovations on user interface, software, antennae, displays, chipsets and video coding. Nokia has filed suits with courts in Düsseldorf, Mannheim, and Munich, as well as court in the US state of Texas.

The news comes only a day after Apple sued Acacia Research Corp and Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc, who deal in license disputes. Apple accused them of colluding with Nokia to extort funds from the US company.

Nokia was the world's biggest cell phone maker from 1998 until 2011, but failed to keep up with the pace in smartphone innovation, especially mobile apps and touchpad screens. It sold its headset unit to Microsoft in 2014 and focused on its mobile network equipment business. It acquired its rival Alcatel-Lucent in 2015.

dj/jm (AFP, Reuters)