Nokia Sues Apple

22nd October 2009

A surprise legal action from Nokia against Apple could possibly lead to iPhones being taken off the shelves. Nokia alleges that Apple has used key technologies in its handsets without licensing them, and has filed a complaint in the US against them.

Apple is a notoriously litigious company that has taken others to court many times, and Apple critics will note with glee that this time the boot is on the other foot.

Specifically, Nokia allege that:

Apple's iPhone infringes Nokia patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards [..] Nokia has already successfully entered into license agreements including these patents with approximately 40 companies, including virtually all the leading mobile device vendors [..] The patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007 [..] 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.

Source: Nokia Press Release

The lawsuit itself has not been published, but Nokia could potentially demand that Apple withdraws the iPhone from sale. In case this sounds far-fetched, then it is worth noting that Nokia have tried this before with Qualcomm.

So, will iPhones still be in the shops by Christmas? Who knows.. but this is certainly a lawsuit worth watching.