Nokia has opened new fronts in Europe in its patent war with Apple, launching new lawsuits in Germany and the Netherlands.
The filings are the latest escalation of the battle between the two rivals in the smartphone arena that started more than a year ago when Nokia filed its first case in the US.
Apple, which was not immediately available for comment, has also sued Nokia over patents in the US and UK. It is also engaged in patent disputes with Motorola, HTC and other mobile phone vendors using Google’s Android operating system.
‘Nokia is on its back foot and may see any potential legal fight as a way of striking back at Apple,’ said Neil Mawston, analyst at research firm Strategy Analytics.
‘Patent fights are becoming an increasing part of the landscape with companies seeking any strategic advantage possible,’ he added.
Seeking to regain its footing, Nokia hired former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop as chief executive three months ago. It has struggled with the roll-outs of its latest answers to the iPhone — the N8 and the E7 models.
Research firm IDC said Nokia continued to lose ground to Apple and Google in the third quarter in its home ground in Western Europe.
Market leader Nokia’s sales rose only 4% in the region from a year ago, while Apple’s sales doubled in the quarter and it rose to rank No.3 in the region after Nokia and Samsung Electronics.
‘Quite possibly, the end game for Nokia is not so much damages it might collect for patent infringement, if in fact it can prove such infringement, but the true goal is to stop the juggernaut that Apple has been for the last few years,’ said Anthony Michael Sabino, professor of law and business at St. John’s University in New York.
‘Apple has laid siege to the entire tech industry, and this is one way of fighting back,’ Sabino said in a statement.
Nokia’s new filings accuse Apple of breaching 14 Nokia patents related to several technologies, including the touch user interface, on-device app stores, signal noise suppression and modular structure.
Analysts expect the legal tussle to drag on for years.
‘These cases often take a long time to settle and may well involve further countersuits from Apple. The real winners are probably the lawyers,’ said Canalys analyst Tim Shepherd.
