Nokia appears as Apple’s Ghost of Christmas Past and slaps it with a lawsuit
Nokia has filed lawsuits against Apple in the United States and Germany, claiming the Cupertino giant has used 32 of its patents without paying for the privilege.
The suit says Apple has failed to negotiate licenses for multiple technologies, most notable of which is the H.264 video codec.
In a press release Nokia wrote: “Since agreeing 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.”
The former mobile giant says it is sick of waiting for Apple to open the chequebook willingly and is taking action to defend its rights, while also planning to file suit in more jurisdictions in the near future.
Ilkka Rahnasto, head of Patent Business at Nokia said: “
“After several years of negotiations trying to reach agreement to cover Apple’s use of these patents, we are now taking action to defend our rights.”
Nokia says the patents in question were developed over 20 years and were the result of 115 billion Euros of investment in R&D.
The suit could be in countenance to one filed by Apple claiming Nokia is at the centre of a patent trolling conspiracy designed to “extract and extort exorbitant revenues” from Apple.
Apple is yet to comment on the latest filing. However, the suit is unlikely to go over too well with Apple, which is yet to finalise eons of parent wrangling with Samsung. However, this time the shoe is on the other foot.
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