Filed under: Apple Corporate, Odds and ends, iPhone
Ouch! Nokia suing Apple over iPhone tech
Nokia isn't happy with the iPhone. In a suit filed today in U.S. District Court, Nokia claims that Apple has violated 10 of Nokia's wireless technology patents. The company says the patents "relate to technologies fundamental to making devices," that are compatible with the GSM, UMTS, or 3G WCDMA, and wireless LAN standards.The claims involve cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption technologies. Nokia says Apple has been in violation of these patents since the iPhone launched in 2007.
Nokia says it has invested more than 60
Apple, on the other hand, reported 4th quarter results Monday with iPhone sales up 7% from the same period a year ago.
Nokia sued Qualcomm over wireless patents and settled that dispute in July of 2008, but the terms remains confidential.
[Thanks to many of our readers for sending this in]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
airmanchairman said 1:09PM on 10-22-2009
It's a worrying admission of failure to compete in the foreseeable future, when a company relies on its patent portfolio to mount a challenge to its competitors.
It's to be expected of patent trolls, which are companies set up with the sole purpose of monetizing patent portfolios, but Nokia is no such company.
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TJ said 1:11PM on 10-22-2009
The statement of "Apple has not adequately compensated the firm", seems to imply that Apple has paid Nokia, but that Nokia now wants more.
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iphoneprofits said 7:40PM on 10-22-2009
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Joshua Ochs said 1:21PM on 10-22-2009
So Nokia has invested $60m in R&D? Seems like chump change to me. Apple could cover that with the change it finds in Steve's couch.
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Hagen Kaye said 1:21PM on 10-22-2009
I guess now Apple with have to look at their war chest of patents to see which ones Nokia is violating. Job security for both legal teams for the next several years.
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cc said 1:28PM on 10-22-2009
Signs of a troubled company:
1. deny new products have impact on your market
2. chide the new entrants lack of market share
3. try to slow down new entrant with patent lawyers
4. bury head in sand and hope decline will be slow
Seems that AT&T is a party to this action - would be funny to see AT&T sued by Nokia as a result of the foray. I suspect sales of Nokia devices from AT&T would decline even faster than they are today.
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Glenn Rempe said 1:22PM on 10-22-2009
Ummm, in my book 40 Billion Euro does not equal 60 *Million* USD in investment by Nokia. Try $60.02 *Billion* USD.
Sloppy. Sheesh.
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unkletubby said 1:27PM on 10-22-2009
Apple could buy them and then all nokia technology will be apple technology.
the big giant apple rolls on....
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Devon said 1:45PM on 10-22-2009
So they sell the most phones in the world and still lose almost a billion dollars. Good job!!
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ebrodeur said 1:52PM on 10-22-2009
Nokia had the chance to grab US smartphone share well before the iPhone was released. They didn't offer subsidized devices in the US market, was late to offer US-compatible 3G support and failed to release firmware bug fixes.
I was a strong supporter of Nokia's smartphone line at the time and it's a unfortunate they let the US market get away from them.
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mark said 2:17PM on 10-22-2009
I always wait more than two years to begin enforcing my patents. Maybe you need someone to actually work in this office of your company Nokia? Call me.
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oZ said 4:40PM on 10-22-2009
First step is not litigation, first step is negotiation. Sounds like that's been going on for some time.
TIm said 2:21PM on 10-22-2009
I am not a big fan of these patents, but they are basically the only way we have to protect intellectual property.
First of all the success on the market does right any stealing of IP from another company, nor does the others companies problems in certain markets. If there is a patent for a certain thing, you got to pay for it (and by the way, pay the price the owning company wants you to pay) or get our dirty figures of the idea. That is the rules, also for Apple.
But I really love how all the fan boys come running and screaming when somebody here admits to pirate software from Apple and tell them how they are gonna burn in hell .. but of course if Apple does it on a slightly higher level .. that it is clearly Nokias fault for not being more successfull.
Or better even when those horrible people over at Palm where stealing Apples IP by allowing the Pre to sync with iTunes .. they should clearly be taught a lesson ..
What a load of hogwash.
T.
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Chris W. said 2:53PM on 10-22-2009
Tim, the issue with Palm's Pre iTunes syncing isn't that it's stealing Apple's IP, it's that it's not abiding by the terms of the USB license it was granted. USB devices aren't supposed to spoof their identities by masquerading as another device.
Brian said 6:17AM on 10-24-2009
Except a big part of the problem is the USPTO issuing patents that it shouldn't have, and companies patenting technologies that are overly broad and not novel. I love it when the contrarians come in here and get pwned.
TIm said 1:58PM on 10-24-2009
Not sure what you mean by getting pwned? So far I haven't heard anything contradicting my statements.
By the way, just because you think patents are trivial or not novel does not mean anything. If almost every company pays to use this technology .. I am pretty sure they have had that checked by people who actually know what they are talking about.
But see this is exactly what I said. When somebody admits to pirate software from apple because he thinks the price is ridicolous then all the fan boy come running to tell how bad that is and how it is stealing and intellectual property and you name it. But if Apple goes and uses patentet technology then that is fine, because patents are bogus anyways.
And about the Apple Palm deal .. sure is the Pre spoofing a wrong USB ID .. so have numerous mp3 players for years .. but that it is Palm .. suddenly all this IP talk starts ..
And if you need more examples .. go and read what Fan Boys have to say about Pystar a couple entries above ..
T.
SIP said 3:22PM on 10-22-2009
Aww, Nokia. Feeling sorry for yourself?
As soon as my first iPhone was in my hands, I vowed never to acquire another Nokia or SonyEricsson or Motorola phone ever again, even if it came as "a free upgrade".
So I moved to a rolling (no commitment to 12/18/24 months) contract with similar numbers of free minutes/texts and free calls to all landlines, and saved £20 per month in the process.
Those shite Nokia/SE handset upgrades were costing me £240 per year!!
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oZ said 4:38PM on 10-22-2009
So, you'll never upgrade your iPhone? Cool. Good luck in ten years.
Thomas said 3:59PM on 10-22-2009
So they can't make money selling phones, so they now decide it's better to make money suing people? Strange new business model - never mind products, just sue.
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Shaun said 4:11PM on 10-22-2009
What are you talking about?
Nokia's handset division is very profitable. They own over half the smartphone market and sell 3 times as many smartphones as Apple do. They sold more smartphones this last quarter than the previous one.
The losses were entirely in it's botched Nokia-Siemens infrastructure division