Throwdown: Apple Versus Nokia

Apple has responded to Nokia's patent infringement lawsuit as any self-respecting major corporation would - with a countersuit! We previously reported that Nokia was attempting to recover up to $12 per iPhone sold by Apple for patent licensing royalties.

The patents in question include GSM and UMTS communications standards as well as security and encryption standards. Apple says Nokia has illegally copied 13 of its own patents and named the Nokia E71 as a device that completely bites off the iPhone.

"Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell. Apple also accuses Nokia of trying to charge too much to license its patents when the company is clearly lagging behind on its own products.

According to Apple, Nokia is trying to gain an unjust competitive advantage over Apple by charging unwarranted fees to use patents that cover industry compatibility standards. Apple believes that the reason Nokia is unwilling to license its patents under "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms" to Apple is because while Apple has been creating a "revolutionary change in the mobile phone category" by releasing the iPhone, Nokia has been twiddling its thumbs.

Nokia's suit against Apple was filed in October and named 10 individual patents as illegally used in Apple's iPhone.

With the countersuit, Apple is seeking an award for damages and to prohibit Nokia from using the patents in question in any mobile devices. Apple claims some of the features Nokia has ripped off from the iPhone include real-time signal processing, display graphics, power conservation and teleconferencing patents.

Apple's legal teams are currently working on 47 patent infringement cases directed at the company. Ericsson, Qualcomm and Interdigital all have patent licensing deals with Apple and receive royalties on iPhone sales.