Nokia Takes Apple to Court Over IPhone Patent Infringement

IPhone users that have pondered the idea that their addictive, go-to device is just too good to be true may just be right. At least Nokia would like to make the argument that it is. Nokia, the world’s largest cell phone manufacturer, is taking the U.S.’s most-infamous smartphone manufacturer to task on a variety of claimed patent infringements that helped to make the iPhone possible. The company has filed a lawsuit against Apple in U.S. District Court in Delaware. The lawsuit cites 10 separate patent infringements including those related to wireless data, speech coding and encryption, going all the way back to the original iPhone released two years ago. The lawsuit was filed as a result of Apple and Nokia being unable to finalize a licensing agreement.

Nokia puts the value of the investment in the disputed technologies at $60 billion over the past 20 years. Apple has not commented on the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, market analysts cite that lawsuits provide a tool for telecoms to help to boost their market standings in the face of lowered sales. Nokia has recently slipped in global smartphone market share while Apple has made gains. The iPhone is considered the top competitor to Nokia’s smartphone offerings. Perhaps if Nokia focused on using their own technologies as effectively as Apple allegedly has, its market share would be growing rather than slipping. We’ll see if the cell phone maker gets its big payday. [via NY Times]