Nokia sues Apple for infringement of UTMS, GSM and WLAN patents
Published by Rafe Blandford at 16:26 UTC, October 22nd 2009
Nokia today announced that it is suing Apple over patent infringements. Nokia says that Apple's iPhone models infringe on Nokia patents relating to GSM, UTMS and WLAN standards. Nokia has one the industry's strongest and broadest patent portfolios (10,000 patent families). The patents in question are considered essential to industry standards and as such are licensed on the principle 'fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms'. However it appears that Apple has chosen not to license the patents.
Nokia has license agreements in place with approximately 40 companies, including 'virtually all the leading mobile device vendors'. Nokia itself has signed agreements with other companies holding similar patent positions (e.g. Ericsson); overall there is an interlocking pattern between the companies who have worked on industry standards.
"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Legal & Intellectual Property at Nokia. "Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia's intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation."
Apple as a relative newcomer to the wireless industry will have fewer relevant patents and therefore is likely not in a position to do a 'patent swap' (a typical scenario between the big manufacturers).
Nokia notes that the patents cover 'wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption' and infringed by all Apple iPhone (Classic, 3G, and 3GS).
It is not clear whether Apple has refused to pay anything at all, or whether it refused to pay the price Nokia asked. There will, almost certainly, have been behind the scenes meetings negotiations. Past history suggest that Nokia takes legal action only after exhausting other options.
More information in the Nokia press release.
We will await developments with interest.
Categories: Links of Interest, Industry
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News Discussion
Apple loses fat profits from the iphone.
Of course, it could all be part of a power play on Nokia's part to get some kind of patent sharing regarding Multi-touch, etc.
iPhone 3G S 16GB , with GSM , UMTS , WiFi license = € ......
Who knows the answer ? Is the consumer going to pay ?
Be quick , get one before the license fee is added !
:) Regards jApi NL
Qualcom sued nokia in the past over the CDMA IP. It seems although nokia have bought the CDMA chip from other manufacture (I believe it was VIA), and VIA claimed that it have paid qualcom, the US district rule that nokia need to pay qualcom too.
And thus we see that nokia withdrawing from the CDMA 2000 1x, CDMA EvDO market. All the current Nokia CDMA is not made by nokia. It's not using nokia OS at all. The last Nokia CDMA was the Nokia 6275i (see forum.nokia.com).
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Originally Posted by celios
If you can't beat them... sue them.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Eh..?? When did Nokia not beat Apple?
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nokia also sold more N series in 1 year than apple sold their iPhone
Nokia E series + Nokia N series + Nokia doremi (4 digit product code) = ??? 40% of the market?
Apple never beat nokia!!
| Apple never beat nokia!! |
http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/...eputation.html
Just because Silicon Valley thinks something is right.. doesn't mean it is. Isn't this just one of the more blatant expression of not invented here syndrome?
Isn't the reaction to the news more a reflection of a lack of objectivity in the online media when it comes to anything Apple? Nokia spent around $7 bn in R&D last year - Apple spent $1 bn. If you turned this around the same media would be baying for others blood and saying it was only right for Apple to defend its innovation.
I do actually think this could still be an issue, but it is important to mistake perception for fact.
And no I don't think Silicon Valley is the centre of mobile - you *might* make a case for it being an important centre for software / services in mobile, but that only one part of the mobile industry (visible for sure). Android and Google Mobile is often cited here, but a lot of the development work for this takes place in London and other Google centres.
Incidentally London could make a decent case as a centre - Symbian is based there, as in LiMo - you can add in Sony Ericsson too and most of the big mobile manufacturers have some sort of base in or near London... but to be honest I really don't think there is any one centre.
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Originally Posted by Rafe
Cross posting my comment from: MIR 's piece (interesting read):
http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/...eputation.html Just because Silicon Valley thinks something is right.. doesn't mean it is. Isn't this just one of the more blatant expression of not invented here syndrome? Isn't the reaction to the news more a reflection of a lack of objectivity in the online media when it comes to anything Apple? Nokia spent around $7 bn in R&D last year - Apple spent $1 bn. If you turned this around the same media would be baying for others blood and saying it was only right for Apple to defend its innovation. I do actually think this could still be an issue, but it is important to mistake perception for fact. And no I don't think Silicon Valley is the centre of mobile - you *might* make a case for it being an important centre for software / services in mobile, but that only one part of the mobile industry (visible for sure). Android and Google Mobile is often cited here, but a lot of the development work for this takes place in London and other Google centres. Incidentally London could make a decent case as a centre - Symbian is based there, as in LiMo - you can add in Sony Ericsson too and most of the big mobile manufacturers have some sort of base in or near London... but to be honest I really don't think there is any one centre. |
Apple has enough cash on hand (yes, cash) to buy every share of Dell. Now, Nokia wants only 200 million from this company. That doesn't make a scratch... Not a fanboy or something just thinking that this news has absolutely zero importance.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Just to put this whole issue into perspective:
Apple has enough cash on hand (yes, cash) to buy every share of Dell. Now, Nokia wants only 200 million from this company. That doesn't make a scratch... Not a fanboy or something just thinking that this news has absolutely zero importance. |
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
It is important in a way to let masses know that "apple" did not invent everything like some claim.
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Secondly, maybe Nokia's assertion is not true. There is no lawsuit order here, just a statement.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
It is important in a way to let masses know that "apple" did not invent everything like some claim.
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Originally Posted by celios
If you can't beat them... sue them.
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Originally Posted by Unregistered
First, the masses don't care. (especially with GSM and WiFi licenses...)
Secondly, maybe Nokia's assertion is not true. There is no lawsuit order here, just a statement. |
Of course we don't care because we know the history but we don't represent everyone.