Apple Countersues Nokia Over Patent Infringement

Apple Countersues Nokia Over Patent Infringement
Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/technology/12apple.html?th&emc=th


Apple sued the cellphone maker Nokia Corporation on Friday for patent infringement, a countermove to Nokia’s earlier suit against technologies used in Apple’s iPhone.

Apple’s lawsuit claims Nokia is infringing 13 of Apple’s patents and says the company chose to “copy the iPhone,” especially its user interface, to make up for its declining share of the high-end phone market.

Nokia’s lawsuit, filed in October, claims that Apple infringes 10 of its patents covering both phone calls and Wi-Fi access.

The patents that Apple claims Nokia is infringing deal with, among other things: connecting a phone to a computer, teleconferencing, menus on a touch screen, power conservation in chips and “pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface.” The company also denies Nokia’s claims of patent infringement.

In a statement, Nokia said it would review the claims and respond “in due course.”

Apple said Nokia fell behind in the smartphone market because it chose to focus on old-fashioned cellphones with conventional user interfaces.

Countersuits are a staple of patent litigation, which often ends in cross-licensing agreements. Nokia said in October that 40 phone manufacturers, but not Apple, had licensed the patents at issue in its lawsuit.

Both suits were filed in federal court in Delaware.

Stock in Nokia, which is based in Finland, rose 0.15 euros, to 8.76 euros ($12.79) a share. Stock in Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., fell $1.76, to $194.67 a share.