The outcome of Apple and Nokia’s dueling patent infringement lawsuits could wait until mid-2012 for a verdict from the international trade court. The two companies swapped lawsuits in 2009, alleging the other with infringing key technologies. The three-year timespan for the U.S. International Trade Commission sets the stage for what Reuters has characterized as “the spectre

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Report: Apple, Nokia Courtroom Battle to Wait until 2012

Maybe the Aztecs were wrong? A new report out this week claims that the prolonged battle between Apple and Nokia over mobile technology patents may drag on for years, and won’t hit the courts until the middle of 2012 — another coming sign of the apocalypse? Reuters uncovered the mid-2012 trial date with the U.S. International Trade Commission in a court filing this week, according to AppleInsider . Such a faraway date seems to confirm “the spectre of a prolonged legal battle.” Nokia threw the first punch last fall, suing Apple over alleged patent violations. Apple responded with a countersuit claiming the same, with the tech world launching into early speculation that the court battle could last two or three years. The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed to investigate Nokia’s claims against Apple in January, but only weeks later the grenade was lobbed back in Nokia’s direction and now the ITC must investigate both companies’ claims. Apple originally accused Nokia of infringing 13 parents held by the company, but Reuters now notes that four of those have been dropped. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has stated that he believes what Nokia is really after is a one or two percent royalty on every iPhone sold — amounting to $6 to $12 per handset as compensation for the alleged patent infringements related to GSM, 3G and Wi-Fi technology. Of course, Apple launched a first strike attack against Google Android partner HTC earlier this month, claiming the Taiwanese handset maker is infringing upon 20 Apple patents related to the user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. Meanwhile, Kodak has a pending ITC investigation against Apple, accusing Cupertino of “infringing on patents related to the previewing of images and processing them at different resolutions.” Not a good time to be on Apple’s legal team, unless you’re a partner in the firm.

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No Apple vs. Nokia Court Battle Until 2012?

Filed under: Hardware , Software , Apple With all of the furor around the gigantic patent lawsuit that Apple dropped on HTC this week , you might be forgiven for forgetting about the first big patent smackdown of the year, the lawsuit that Nokia laid at Apple’s door . But a judge in Delaware hasn’t — he ordered a suspension to both the case and its countersuit while the International Trade Commission works out the complaints between the two companies. Clearly Nokia and Apple have it out for one another, but apparently they’re going to take it one step at a time. Once the ITC has completed its probe, which was scheduled to take 45 days after it agreed to perform the investigation on February 22nd, then the lawsuit will presumably move forward. That’s if it’s still on and not settled by then, although Nokia seems in it to win it, and Apple apparently has enough bandwidth (and legal fees) to pick two fights at once anyway. So bring it, ITC, and then let’s get this show on the road. [via Macworld ] Judge suspends Apple/Nokia lawsuit pending ITC investigation originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Judge suspends Apple/Nokia lawsuit pending ITC investigation originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Judge suspends Apple/Nokia lawsuit pending ITC investigation

Talk about having the brakes applied before things even get going: The Federal judge overseeing Apple and Nokia’s patent violation case in Delaware has put things on hold pending the results of the ITC investigation. Looks like we’ll have a bit of waiting before the patent spat between Apple and Nokia heats up. According to The Mac Observer , the judge overseeing the patent dispute as “temporarily put the proceedings on hold while waiting for a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation to run its course.” Finnish cellphone giant Nokia lobbed the first strike back in October, with a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple over “claims that the wireless technology the company uses in most of its products violate patents the cell phone maker owns.” Less than two months later, Apple fired back with a lawsuit of its own against Nokia for the same reason. At the same time as the lawsuits were filed in Federal court in Delaware, both companies also lobbed their complaints at the ITC, who has agreed to formally launch an investigation into the situation. “Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” Apple General Counsel and senior vice president Bruce Sewell commented in December after Cupertino launched their countersuit against Nokia. It’s common knowledge that the Finnish cellphone maker has been hit hard by new competitors such as Apple in recent years, and they have thus far failed to come up with any compelling technology to hold the iPhone’s explosive growth at bay.

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Apple vs. Nokia Patent Case Halted Pending ITC Investigation

Patent infringement lawsuits filed by Apple and Nokia in Delaware were put on hold after a judge ruled Wednesday their outcome must wait for international trade complaints to be sorted out. In February, the International Trade Commission announced it would investigate Apple’s claims against Nokia, a move following a similar January pronouncement concerning Nokia’s allegations

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Judge Suspends Apple, Nokia Lawsuits Pending Trade Investigations

There was lots of buzz not too long ago about Apple trying to get into the streaming music service, and moving that content to the cloud to compete with services like Pandora and others who seem to be taking some of the wind out of iTunes’ sails. Now, it seems like music wasn’t the only thing the Mac maker’s been planning on moving to the cloud. According to CNET’s sources , Apple has been in talks with major film studios about allowing iTunes customers to store their movie purchases in the cloud using the company’s servers. Add that to its possible plans to stream television and music, and you’ve got a very attractive combo for users who are getting tired of having to clear off hard drive space every few weeks. Not only would the plan see the reduction of used HD space, which isn’t a problem for people who just want to watch something once and then delete it, but it will also allow any authorized Internet connected device to access and stream the content automatically, without the need to transfer or convert it first. In theory, then, any device with iTunes on it should be able to access the movies, including Apple’s upcoming iPad. As details of these talks continue to emerge, it’s clear where Apple thinks the future of personal electronic devices is headed, and the popularity of streaming services like Internet radio and the Xbox’s 1080p streaming HD movie rentals suggest that Cupertino is right on the money. CNET’s source said of Apple, “[b]asically, they want to eliminate the hard drive.” The barriers in the way of getting studios to buy in are fairly steep, at least by Apple’s standards.

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Apple’s Cloud Storage Plan Extends to Movies, Too

Section: Apple Business , iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPhone , iPhone Competitors In a press release out of Cupertino this week, Apple announced it is suing HTC for patent infringement in 20 different cases. According to Apple, the patents in question deal with the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware, meaning that HTC is being attacked from all sides on this one. While the specific patents aren’t mentioned, this could become a long battle for HTC to stay above water if it turns out Apple’s case is well presented. As for the reasoning behind the suit, Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying: We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours. As you may know, HTC was responsible for creating both the first Android based mobile phone as well as Google’s current Nexus One . In terms of design, it appears as if the interesting phones coming out of HTC have become too much like the iPhone for Apple to handle. Either way, it will certainly be fun to watch this one play out. I’m sure Apple’s patent lawyers have been building this case for a while (well, when they’re not suing Nokia at least). Via [ Business Insider ] Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell . | Comment on this Article »

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Apple sues HTC over iPhone technology patent infringement

While Tuesdays are known for Apple product launches, today the company announced not a new Mac but a lawsuit over patent infringement related to the iPhone. The target was mobile phone maker HTC , and none other than Steve Jobs was making the accusations. “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.” At issue are some 20 patents relating to the “iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware,” though specifics have not yet been divulged, nor has there been a response from HTC. More details will undoubtedly be made public as the lawsuit proceeds in both the U.S. District Court in Delaware and with the U.S. International Trade Commission. Nonetheless, the accusation of intellectual property theft over handheld device patents sounds oddly familiar, except it wasn’t Apple making the accusation recently, but Nokia. In December, Nokia sued Apple over patents relating to standards covering “wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption,” accusing Apple of “attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.” Apple promptly countersued , General Counsel Bruce Sewell also using the S-Word, stating that “other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours.” If this all sounds harsh, it is. The flurry of patent lawsuits and counter-lawsuits is something of an anomaly, in that companies like Apple, HTC, and Nokia normally use their massive patent portfolios to protect themselves from litigation.

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Apple Sues HTC Over iPhone

If you thought the smartphone patent battles would end with Nokia vs. Apple, think again: Cupertino has just filed a lawsuit against HTC. PR Newswire is reporting on Apple’s latest patent battle, with the company filing a lawsuit against HTC for “infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.” In a sign that Cupertino isn’t messing around, the lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) as well as in U.S. District Court in Delaware. "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." Apple recently filed a countersuit in their legal battle with cellphone giant Nokia, with the ITC planning to look into both companies’ claims of patent infringement, according to AppleInsider .

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Apple Sues HTC for Patent Infringement

According to new data from Gartner, Apple’s iPhone operating system is the third most dominant smartphone platform in the world, with a 14.4% market share. The iPhone still trails Nokia’s Symbian operating system and RIM’s BlackBerry OS. The discrepancy between RIM and Apple is only by five percent… but RIM has only grown their market share

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Gartner data places iPhone OS as third biggest smartphone platform globally