Nokia denounces Apple's antitrust case as 'distraction'

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Nokia denounces Apple's antitrust case as 'distraction'

Petitions court to throw the claims out to focus on patents issues

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 15 March, 2010

READ MORE: US | Nokia | Apple | Patents/IPR | Handset

The legal battle over patents between Nokia and Apple may not reach court until 2012, say experts, but the Finnish giant at least wants to bring one aspect of the fight to a speedier conclusion. It has asked a federal judge to throw out Apple's antitrust claims against it, arguing that they are a "distraction" from the really important issue, patent infringement - notably, of course, Apple's alleged infringements on Nokia's essential IPR.

In federal court papers filed in Delaware at the end of last week, Nokia said Apple was engaging in "legal alchemy" by claiming that Nokia was trying to monopolize the cellphone industry. Both firms have filed patent infringement claims against one another and also pleaded their causes with the US International Trade Commission, which has the power to slap injunctions on US imports of products found to be in breach of its rules.

"These non-patent counterclaims are designed to divert attention away from free-riding off Nokia's intellectual property, a practise Apple evidently believes should only be of paramount concern when it is the alleged victim," Nokia said in its filing.

Apple has also accused Nokia of trying to force it to give up its own proprietary technology for the iPhone, and of concealing the extent of its patent holdings in areas like Wi-Fi, and then charging large royalties for them. Nokia's rebuttal claims that its US rival is resorting to "revisionist history, misleading characterizations, unsupported allegations and flawed and contradictory legal theories", according to Bloomberg.

The ITC has set an October evidentiary hearing in Apple's claims against Nokia, with a final decision in the case by June 2011. A judge hearing Nokia's claims against Apple plans to conduct a hearing in November with a final decision by May 2011. However, most expect the other patent cases to drag on even longer.