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Nokia Sues Apple For Patent Infringement In iPhone

Posted by samzenpus on from the we-did-it-first dept.

AVee writes "Engadget (amongst many others) reports that Nokia is suing Apple because the iPhone infringes on 10 Nokia patents related to GSM, UTMS and WiFi. While the press release doesn't contain much detail, it does state that Apple didn't agree to 'appropriate terms for Nokia's intellectual property,' which sounds like there have been negotiations about those patents."

16 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. I'll ask it again by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why are standards based on patented technology?

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    1. Re:I'll ask it again by EvilNTUser · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Read the press release. Nokia has spent 40 billion euros in R&D over the last two decades. Wireless communication is probably not quite as simple as one click shopping.

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    2. Re:I'll ask it again by mea37 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because standards that lag current technology by 17 years would go unused anyway? So instead of having to interoperate with one system and therefore needing to pay royalties to one group of patent-holders, any device manufacturer would have to either (1) play to a niche market, or (2) address the fragmented market by interoperating with many systems that each work differently, therefore needing to pay royalties to many groups of patent-holders?

      Your question is reasonable when applied to standards that cover doing things for which there are alternatives unburdened by patents. In many areas (such as wireless telecommunications) that is not the case.

    3. Re:I'll ask it again by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Nokia is just angry that they are profits are down and Apple's profits are up.
      Source: CNN Money

      Profits tend to be down when people aren't paying you for your work. ;)

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  2. Re:Two way street by emj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple bad, Nokia good when we are talking about mobil phones. Nokias N900 has great Linux Comunity, and they are writing a Free cell phone communication stack ofono.

  3. Re:So confused about who to root for... by hallucinogen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1. Nokia invests over 40 billion EUR on R&D
    2. Every manufacturer apart from one pays Nokia for their hard work
    3. Instead of paying (like everybody else) Apple chooses to steal from Nokia
    4. Nokia sues Apple

    Is it really patent trolling?

  4. Those 40 other... losers? by Anonymusing · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe Apple thinks the patents won't stand up in court. Just because 40 other companies licensed them from Nokia, doesn't mean those other companies actually considered taking on Nokia. Are those other companies as big and brash as Apple? Apple has an estimated market cap of ~$180 billion, while Nokia has ~$50 billion.

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    1. Re:Those 40 other... losers? by hattig · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe those 40 other companies licensed them as part of a broader licensing package, rather than specifically. Without someone doing an analysis of the patents involved, and how Apple have implemented the similar features (patents protect a specific way of doing something, not the something), we won't know.

      It'll end up with Apple paying a nominal fee and cross-licensing their multitouch and other mobile patents, so Nokia won't have to worry about them in the future, and thus can remain a relevant company in the mobile marketplace.

  5. Oh boy! A lawsuit story! by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would you just do a spinoff site calls "SueDot" already?

  6. Just like Cisco... by bkr1_2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This will be another Cisco event where the case eventually gets settled out of court for some undisclosed amount of money... nothing to see here.

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  7. Re:Two way street by AlXtreme · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Popularity != Quality

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  8. Re:Presumed guilty by demachina · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since nearly every other cell phone maker has licensed these patents and Apple was negotiating to license them chances are pretty good Nokia's claim is valid. Don't think it has much to do with Slashdot bias.

    Presumably Nokia's licensing terms were unreasonable to Apple, this is just escalation of the "negotiating" process by one side or the other, Nokia thinks they will win and get more cash than Apple was offering in the negotiation, or maybe even Apple thought they will do better in court or with a counter suit over other patents so they provoked Nokia in to this.

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  9. Re:Two way street by idontgno · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple advocates may not want to play the popularity card. By that standard, MacOS must suck, cuz Windows derivatives are 18 times more popular.

    C'mon, I don't even like Apple, and I know better than to try to equate market share with superiority. In both cases, there must be some other explanation.

    Oh, yeah, marketing.

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  10. Nothing to do with software !! by pablo_max · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Looking over these posts..it's amazing that how little people understand of the technology they use.
    Nokia's patents pertaining to GSM technology and UMTS have absolutely nothing to do with a phones OS but rather the 7 layers under it.

    Nokia has spent many millions over the years on GSM and UMTS. They are major contributors to the 3GPP standards body and have help in a measurable way to shape the technology.
    How can people call Nolia a patent troll because some company comes in years after Nokia did all the work and steals the tech?? Are you kidding me?

    I know it's Apple and the normal rules of the world should not apply, but for F's sake people. This is the reason we have patents! It's not some nonsense software patent.

  11. Re:Two way street by lymond01 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not that I've read the story or anything, but my guess is they made a bunch of the products that Apple has tucked in a shiny case with superior GUI. Apple may be standing on Nokia's shoulders here. Imagine you develop a teleportation device -- it would revolutionize the world. You patent it. Then Apple goes and builds a phone that you can point at an object and teleport it to a person with another phone, using your patent. They make billions of dollars because of it, but you're still broke because they didn't license your property.

    Is this a problem? Only if you don't think ideas are cheap. People invent and patent things all the time. But that doesn't necessarily mean money in the bank, if you don't strike a deal to make that money. Invention is the very first step and patenting is a way to merely a way to protect your idea while you go look for financing to make it real.

    Nokia made their product off their tech. It's not as popular as the iPhone. Do they deserve to get some of the iPhone's share of money?

  12. Re:Presumed guilty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nokia has been making mobile phones since they were the size of a large brick. And created or co-created much of the basic hardware technology used in mobile phones today...

    I think i'll believe them when they say they invented and patented a bunch of hardware that apple swiped without proper payment.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia

    In todays world they are a pretty straight dealing stand up company. (compared to most others)

    If they say apple ripped them off. Apple most likely did.

    Hey.. see what not screwing people over and not ripping everyone off gets you? People believe you when it's important.