Speculation on Nokia-Apple Lawsuit Continues

A little less than a month ago, Nokia filed a patent infringement case against Apple, in which it claimed that Apple was using copyright technology in their famous iPhone. While Apple said that they would defend the case vigorously when it came to court, pundits are thinking that Nokia might have had other reasons for filing the case.

Analysts are of the opinion that the patent infringement case against Apple might be a ploy by Nokia to stop Apple from filing a counter case against them. Nokia is due to release a few handsets capable of multi-touch, which might use technology patented and copyrighted by Apple, Inc. For those who are unaware, Apple was the first manufacturer to employ the multi-touch feature on their iPhone, almost 2 years ago. While competitors have tried to match this feature for the last 2 years, it is only recently that they have been able to introduce capacitive multi-touch touchscreen devices. Nokia's range of handsets predominantly use a resistive touch screen with no multi-touch features. However, with the Apple iPhone eating up Nokia smartphone market share, a capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch capability was the only answer for Nokia. If these handsets violate any part of Apple's touchscreen patents, we may well see Apple filing a counter case against Nokia.

While many think that the case was a smart move by Nokia, it kind of leads one to a conclusion that Nokia might indeed be infringing Apple patents. If that does turn out to be the case, and Apple does file a counter suit, the ensuing battle might take years to resolve. With Nokia seeking almost a billion dollars in damages from Apple, Apple is not likely to sit quiet given a chance in a counter suit. A patent evaluation by the U.S. International Trade Commission can take years, leaving the outcome of the case stuck, something that both companies would not want.

This is just an example of how competitive the mobile phone market has become in the recent years. With billions of dollars at stake, it seems that the most likely solution will end up to be an out of court settlement, and maybe cross licensing of patents.

That, however, is a long way off, and one can only wait to see if the release of the new Nokia handsets prompts Apple to do anything.