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Android under legal attack as Microsoft sues Motorola

The more successful a technology becomes, the more liable it becomes to lawsuits from those seeking to curtail its progress

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 6 October, 2010

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Apple has expanded its legal action against the Finnish giant, launching lawsuits in the UK that mirror those already in the US courts (along with various countersuits from Nokia).

Earlier this year, a US federal judge agreed to put another patent dispute between the two manufacturers on hold, pending resolutions of their claims in front of the International Trade Commission.

In the US, Apple claims that Nokia is infringing on 13 of its patents while Nokia says its rival infringes seven of its patents in a wide range of products from the iPhone to the iMac. Apple has cited nine of its patents in the European case, in a move that is seen as taking the battle to Nokia’s home turf.

Nokia spokesperson Mark Durrant told Bloomberg: “This is an unsurprising development, which seems designed to put pressure on the ongoing dialog between both companies.”

The spat started in October 2009 when Nokia alleged in a US court that Apple had violated patents that were “fundamental” to the creation of GSM, W-CDMA and Wi-Fi devices. Apple countersued in December 2009, accusing its rival of anti-competitive practices and patent infringement. In January 2010, Nokia upped the ante, making a complaint to the ITC that Apple infringed its patents in “virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers”. Apple responded by calling on the ITC to bar the import of Nokia products into the US on the basis of IPR violations. None of the US or UK cases are likely to be heard until late 2011 or 2012.

Wi-Lan strikes again:

Patent troll Wi-Lan has initiated litigation in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division against Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, HTC, Exedea and LG Electronics. It claims these firms infringe four of its patents relating to 3G technologies in base stations and devices.

Wi-Lan has a long history of suing telecoms firms for alleged infringements of its patents and often launches wide ranging attacks against large numbers of companies at once.

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