Nokia takes on Apple over phone patents

The Nokia patents cover wireless networking, GSM components and UMTS 3G connections

Nokia has filed suit against Apple over alleged patent infringement. The phone giant said on Thursday that it is seeking judgement with a US Federal court in Delaware over what it says are infringements by Apple on 10 of its patents.

The patents cover wireless networking, GSM components and UMTS 3G connections. Nokia claims that Apple has violated patents with components in the iPhone that handle encryption, wireless networking and speech processing.

Nokia said that it currently licenses the patents to around 40 vendors, and accused Apple of using the technology without a licence since the release of the original iPhone in 2007.

Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president of legal and intellectual technology at Nokia, said that, by not paying for the use of the technology, Apple is looking for a "free ride" on Nokia's €40bn research efforts.

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that companies which contribute to technology development to establish standards create intellectual property which others then need to compensate for," said Rahnasto. "Apple is also expected to follow this principle."

The suit comes just days after Apple announced that it had shifted 7.4 million iPhone handsets during the company's most successful financial quarter ever.