Nokia and Apple have this week filed patent-related lawsuits against one another in various jurisdictions.
Nokia’s claims, filed in Germany and the U.S., say that Apple is using Nokia’s patented technology without permission. The companies have been negotiating licensing fees for Nokia’s patents for several years and can’t agree on pricing.
“Since agreeing [to] a license covering some patents from the Nokia Technologies portfolio in 2011, Apple has declined subsequent offers made by Nokia to license other of its patented inventions which are used by many of Apple’s products,” said Nokia.
The lawsuit is meant to force Apple to agree to Nokia’s terms. On the flip side, Apple is accusing Nokia of antitrust behavior. It claims Nokia divested a number of its standard essential patents to patent-licensing firms (in this case, Acacia and Conversant) in order to circumvent fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory pricing principles that apply to such patents.
“With its cell phone business dying, Nokia began to seek out willing conspirators and to commence its illegal patent transfer scheme in full force; that scheme has continued in full effect to the present. The driving force behind Nokia’s strategy was to diffuse its patent portfolio and place it in the hands of PAEs. Acacia and Conversant were its chief conspirators,” said Apple in its complaint.
Apple’s lawsuit was first reported by PatentlyApple.
