Apple files countersuit against Nokia
The battle between cell phone makers Apple and Nokia escalated Friday, as Apple announced that it has filed a countersuit alleging the Finnish company has infringed on 13 patents.
In October, Nokia sued Apple over the alleged use of patented wireless standards in the iPhone. Nokia has argued that the iPhone infringes on GSM and wireless LAN patents it owns. That suit involves 10 patents owned by Nokia.
In a brief press release Friday, Apple announced its countersuit as a "response" to Nokia's own legal action.
"Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Bruce Sewell, Apple's General Counsel and senior vice president.
Update: In its defense, Apple has argued that Nokia's patents are all related to standards, which means they have been committed to be licensed freely and without discrimination by Nokia. Nokia's own complaint seeks special licensing terms from Apple, and access to the company's own patents.
Apple has alleged that Nokia is attempting to obtain more money from it than other companies, plus rights to Apple's intellectual property -- all after the Finnish company has committed itself to nondiscriminatory licensing.
"In dealing with Apple, Nokia has sought to gain an unjust competitive advantage over Apple by charging unwarranted fees to use patents that allegedly cover industry compatibility standards and by seeking to obtain access to Apple's intellectual property," the suit reads. "Nokia needs access to Apple's intellectual property because Nokia has copied and is now using that patented technology."
In its court filing, Apple said Nokia "remained focused on traditional mobile wireless handsets with conventional user interfaces," while the iPhone revolutionized the way consumers use smartphones.
"As a result, Nokia has rapidly lost share in the market for high-end mobile phones. Nokia has admitted that, as a result of the iPhone launch, "the market has changed suddenly and [Nokia was] not fast enough changing with it. In response, Nokia chose to copy the iPhone, especially its enormously popular and patented design and user interface."
It goes on to quote Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's executive vice president and general manager of multimedia, at an event in 2007 when he compared Nokia's products to the iPhone: "[If] there is something good in the world, we copy with pride."
"True to this quote," Apple said, "Nokia has demonstrated its willingness to copy Apple's iPhone ideas as well as Apple's basic computing technologies, all while demanding Apple pay for access to Nokia's purported standards essential patent. Apple seeks redress for this behavior."
The patents in question owned by Apple are (via Digital Daily):
No. 5,634,074 : Serial I/O device identifies itself to a computer through a serial interface during power on reset then it is being configured by the computer
No. 6,343,263 B1 : Real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data
No. 5,915,131 : Method and apparatus for handling I/O requests utilizing separate programming interfaces to access separate I/O services
No. 5,555,369: Method of creating packages for a pointer-based computer system
No. 6,239,795 B1: Pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface
No. 5,315,703: Object-oriented notification framework system
No. 6,189,034 B1: Method and apparatus for dynamic launching of a teleconferencing application upon receipt of a call
No. 7,469,381, B2: List scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display
No. RE 39, 486 E: Extensible, replaceable network component system
No. 5,455,854: Object-oriented telephony system
No. 7,383,453 B2: Conserving power by reducing voltage supplied to an instruction-processing portion of a processor
No. 5,848,105: GMSK signal processors for improved communications capacity and quality
No. 5, 379,431: Boot framework architecture for dynamic staged initial program load
The latest development confirms experts' predictions that Apple would allege its own, separate infringements against Nokia. The approach has been employed before to allow companies more leverage in negotiations.
The best scenario for both companies to avoid a lengthy suit is to reach a licensing deal outside of the courts.
The fight between the companies could become even more complex, experts said, spilling over to Europe and possibly ending up in the hands of the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Nokia claims ownership of technology related to Global System for Mobile communications (GSM); wireless local area network (WLAN); and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UTMS). Nokia's suit specifically cites 10 patents that cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption. It has alleged that all iPhone models released since 2007 infringe on these patents.
Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray believes Nokia's endgame is to obtain 1 percent to 2 percent, or $6 to $12, for every iPhone sold.
Apple previously acknowledged the Nokia suit in its annual Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In that document, the iPhone maker said it would "vigorously" defend itself against Nokia's claims.
In October, Nokia sued Apple over the alleged use of patented wireless standards in the iPhone. Nokia has argued that the iPhone infringes on GSM and wireless LAN patents it owns. That suit involves 10 patents owned by Nokia.
In a brief press release Friday, Apple announced its countersuit as a "response" to Nokia's own legal action.
"Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Bruce Sewell, Apple's General Counsel and senior vice president.
Update: In its defense, Apple has argued that Nokia's patents are all related to standards, which means they have been committed to be licensed freely and without discrimination by Nokia. Nokia's own complaint seeks special licensing terms from Apple, and access to the company's own patents.
Apple has alleged that Nokia is attempting to obtain more money from it than other companies, plus rights to Apple's intellectual property -- all after the Finnish company has committed itself to nondiscriminatory licensing.
"In dealing with Apple, Nokia has sought to gain an unjust competitive advantage over Apple by charging unwarranted fees to use patents that allegedly cover industry compatibility standards and by seeking to obtain access to Apple's intellectual property," the suit reads. "Nokia needs access to Apple's intellectual property because Nokia has copied and is now using that patented technology."
In its court filing, Apple said Nokia "remained focused on traditional mobile wireless handsets with conventional user interfaces," while the iPhone revolutionized the way consumers use smartphones.
"As a result, Nokia has rapidly lost share in the market for high-end mobile phones. Nokia has admitted that, as a result of the iPhone launch, "the market has changed suddenly and [Nokia was] not fast enough changing with it. In response, Nokia chose to copy the iPhone, especially its enormously popular and patented design and user interface."
It goes on to quote Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's executive vice president and general manager of multimedia, at an event in 2007 when he compared Nokia's products to the iPhone: "[If] there is something good in the world, we copy with pride."
"True to this quote," Apple said, "Nokia has demonstrated its willingness to copy Apple's iPhone ideas as well as Apple's basic computing technologies, all while demanding Apple pay for access to Nokia's purported standards essential patent. Apple seeks redress for this behavior."
The patents in question owned by Apple are (via Digital Daily):
No. 5,634,074 : Serial I/O device identifies itself to a computer through a serial interface during power on reset then it is being configured by the computer
No. 6,343,263 B1 : Real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data
No. 5,915,131 : Method and apparatus for handling I/O requests utilizing separate programming interfaces to access separate I/O services
No. 5,555,369: Method of creating packages for a pointer-based computer system
No. 6,239,795 B1: Pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface
No. 5,315,703: Object-oriented notification framework system
No. 6,189,034 B1: Method and apparatus for dynamic launching of a teleconferencing application upon receipt of a call
No. 7,469,381, B2: List scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display
No. RE 39, 486 E: Extensible, replaceable network component system
No. 5,455,854: Object-oriented telephony system
No. 7,383,453 B2: Conserving power by reducing voltage supplied to an instruction-processing portion of a processor
No. 5,848,105: GMSK signal processors for improved communications capacity and quality
No. 5, 379,431: Boot framework architecture for dynamic staged initial program load
The latest development confirms experts' predictions that Apple would allege its own, separate infringements against Nokia. The approach has been employed before to allow companies more leverage in negotiations.
The best scenario for both companies to avoid a lengthy suit is to reach a licensing deal outside of the courts.
The fight between the companies could become even more complex, experts said, spilling over to Europe and possibly ending up in the hands of the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Nokia claims ownership of technology related to Global System for Mobile communications (GSM); wireless local area network (WLAN); and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UTMS). Nokia's suit specifically cites 10 patents that cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption. It has alleged that all iPhone models released since 2007 infringe on these patents.
Analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray believes Nokia's endgame is to obtain 1 percent to 2 percent, or $6 to $12, for every iPhone sold.
Apple previously acknowledged the Nokia suit in its annual Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In that document, the iPhone maker said it would "vigorously" defend itself against Nokia's claims.
Comments
Responding to a lawsuit brought against the company by Nokia, Apple today filed a countersuit claiming that Nokia is infringing 13 Apple patents.
"Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Bruce Sewell, Apple's General Counsel and senior vice president, in the press release.
Source: Apple Inc.
Too true.
I wouldn't want to mess with Apple legal.
I never understood how suddenly everyone has a multi touch smart phone after Apple claims to have invented the technology. Can someone explain?
Apple has a particular implementation of it. And it has nothing to do with ATMs.
Dude, multi -touch has been around since the 90's- have you ever used a Citibank ATM?
That isn't multi-touch.
That isn't multi-touch.
Then what is it? A screen with sensors is what then?
PC's use them all the time now since Windows Vista - are you saying PCs/Windows stole that screen technology from Apple too?
I never understood how suddenly everyone has a multi touch smart phone after Apple claims to have invented the technology. Can someone explain?
Also, large companies infringe on other large companies patents all the time, but are often ignored due to fears of escalating into a war such as this fine example.
It will be one expensive fight.
Apple's ongoing problem of other industry players fighting Apple with photocopiers . . .
Responding to a lawsuit brought against the company by Nokia, Apple today filed a countersuit claiming that Nokia is infringing 13 Apple patents.
"Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Bruce Sewell, Apple's General Counsel and senior vice president, in the press release.
Source: Apple Inc.
Too true.
I wouldn't want to mess with Apple legal.
Apple has a particular implementation of it. And it has nothing to do with ATMs.
That isn't multi-touch.
BINGO
APPLE has multi multi touch swipe tech patents
hundreds of patents
f--nokia
crush nokia
boil their bones
go apple
BINGO
APPLE has multi multi touch swipe tech patents
hundreds of patents
f--nokia
crush nokia
boil their bones
go apple
Disturbing... Hate much?
Then what is it? A screen with sensors is what then?
As far as I understand it, multi-touch is the means by which different actions can be invoked on a touch screen by use of multiple points of contact. I've never used a Citibank ATM but I'd hazard a guess that they only allow single point gestures?
Then what is it? A screen with sensors is what then?
PC's use them all the time now since Windows Vista - are you saying PCs/Windows stole that screen technology from Apple too?
Okay, I thought TechStud knew his stuff but since he seems to have missed this...
A screen with touch sensors is a touch screen, nothing more. One press to one button equivalent.
Apple's multi-touch implementation is a touch screen or laptop trackpad that can register several touches at the same time, as well as "gestures" - where the multiple touches change position on the screen to form the basis of a command. It can tell the difference between a single finger, two fingers, three, or four, and trigger different responses depending on how many fingers are used, or if two fingers "pinch" together or pull apart for zoom, or twist to rotate. I'm certain I've seen several Apple commercials displaying this functionality, and of course I use them often on my phone and MacBook Pro.
A little more responsive than the average CitiBank ATM.
Dude, multi -touch has been around since the 90's- have you ever used a Citibank ATM? Apple would like you to think they invent everything. Even the new mouse is nothing revoutionary. It's just the way Apple presents it that's different.
Then what is it? A screen with sensors is what then?
PC's use them all the time now since Windows Vista - are you saying PCs/Windows stole that screen technology from Apple too?
Multi-touch is different from what you are describing which is touch-screens. As you say a touch screen has been around for ages but multi-touch has not.
In a traditional touch screen you can press on a location and it will register. With multi-touch you can touch two things at the same time and move them and both with register at the same time.
Touching $100 on an ATM is touch screen, pinch zooming on an iPhone with two fingers is multi-touch. Getting multi-touch to work correctly and reliably was a tricky thing to get working and that is why although touch screens have existed for years multi-touch has not as it requires a better kind of touch panel and improved software.
Here are some detailed examples of the difference between Multi-touch and a standard touchscreen.
Edwin
I never understood how suddenly everyone has a multi touch smart phone after Apple claims to have invented the technology. Can someone explain?
because you can't protect an idea. even in patents 'idea patents' are being tossed out left and right.
heck idea copying is in part the core of Apple. they take an idea and do it better. PMPs, smart phones, etc in particular. and if the rumors are true, 2010 we'll see them do the 'netbook' better. and no one can stop them from using the idea.
so you can't protect 'multi-touch screen on a phone' or 'phone that can also read email', 'phone that can also play music' etc. just the technology behind how you do it. Which Apple is saying Nokia did. they didn't take the idea, they took the tech.
there is also something called a 'look and feel' patent which covers interfaces and such, Apple has filed suits a couple of times with phone and computer companies over that one.
but what confuses me is that I read somewhere that Nokia and Qualcomm have a sort of 'joint custody' over the collection of GSM patents owed by both (and a few other patents involved in various standards). if this is true, why hasn't Qualcomm tossed in to back up their buddy. wouldn't they benefit as well.
Looks like Apple isn't denying it stole from Nokia just saying Nokia stole something else.
Why would Apple even mention another lawsuit against them when filing their own? It's irrelevant to the proceedings.
Apple's ongoing problem of other industry players fighting Apple with photocopiers . . .
Responding to a lawsuit brought against the company by Nokia, Apple today filed a countersuit claiming that Nokia is infringing 13 Apple patents.
"Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Bruce Sewell, Apple's General Counsel and senior vice president, in the press release.
Source: Apple Inc.
Too true.
I wouldn't want to mess with Apple legal.
.
But that has nothing to do with Nokia's lawsuit. This is just an Apple diversion- an entirely separate issue/case.
because you can't protect an idea. even in patents 'idea patents' are being tossed out left and right.
heck idea copying is in part the core of Apple. they take an idea and do it better.
So true.. So true..
This will end in a stalemate, or at best, Apple getting spanked with a huge fine.
Nokia has nothing to worry about.
Why would Apple even mention another lawsuit against them when filing their own? It's irrelevant to the proceedings.
So then a separate case - Apple's case has no denying they stole from Noklia then.