Nokia Sues Apple, Alleging Patent Infringement

Nokia filed several patent infringement suits Thursday against Apple in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, claiming that Apple is infringing many of the company's patents in products including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

"These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the US International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts," said Paul Melin, vice president, Intellectual Property at Nokia.

"The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include several which enable compelling user experiences. For example, using a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone."

Nokia's suits in the UK are related to touch user interface, on-device app stores, signal noise suppression and modulator structures. The company's filing in Germany covers seven Nokia patents related to touch user interface, antenna structures, messaging functionality and chipsets and the suits in the Netherlands cover two Nokia patents related to signal noise suppression and data card functionality.

An Apple representative was not immediately available for comment.