Apple countersues Nokia over phone patents

NEW YORK: Apple Inc is suing cellphone maker Nokia Corp for patent infringement, a countermove to Nokia’s earlier suit against technologies used in Apple’s iPhone.

Apple’s lawsuit claims Nokia is infringing on 13 of Apple’s patents, and says the Finland-based company chose to “copy the iPhone,” especially its user interface, to make up for its declining share of the high-end phone market.

Nokia’s lawsuit, filed in October, claims that Cupertino, California-based Apple infringes on 10 of its patents covering both phone calls and WiFi wireless access.

The patents Apple alleges Nokia is infringing deal with, among other things: Connecting a phone to a computer, teleconferencing, menus on a touchscreen, power conservation in chips, and “pattern and colour abstraction in a graphical user interface.”

It also denies Nokia’s claims of patent infringement.

In a statement, Nokia said it will review the claims and respond “in due course.”

Apple said Nokia fell behind in the smartphone market because it chose to focus on old-fashioned cellphones with conventional user interfaces at a time when “smart” phones were growing increasingly popular.

Countersuits are a staple of patent litigation, which often ends in cross-licensing agreements. Nokia said in October that 40 phone manufacturers — but not Apple — have licensed the patents in its lawsuit. — AP