Computerworld - Nokia Corp. last week asked a federal court to block Apple Inc. from importing virtually any current Apple hardware into the U.S., including products in the iPhone, iPod and Mac lines.
The lawsuit -- the second Nokia has filed against Apple in a patent war that broke out in October -- is nearly identical to the complaint the Finnish phone manufacturer filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Dec. 29. In the ITC complaint, Nokia also demanded that Apple be barred from bringing "all of Apple's electronic devices that infringe one or more claims of the Asserted Patents" into the U.S.
Nokia used similar language in its second lawsuit, filed Dec. 29 with a Delaware federal court. "Nokia prays for judgment and relief against Apple ... for a permanent injunction enjoining Apple, its officers, agents, servants, employees and all other persons in concert or participation with it from further infringement, contributory infringement, and inducement of infringement of the Asserted Patents," Nokia's lawsuit read.
Elsewhere in the filing, Nokia spelled out the seven patents it alleges Apple has infringed upon. For each, it claimed that only an injunction would stop Apple from further abuse. "Apple's acts have caused, and unless restrained and enjoined, will continue to cause, irreparable injury and damage to Nokia for which there is no adequate remedy at law," Nokia argued. "Unless enjoined by this court, Apple will continue to infringe the ... patent."
Nokia has not, however, filed a motion specifically asking the court to slap an injunction on Apple's hardware sales. The case has not yet been assigned a judge.
The lawsuit claimed that virtually every major piece of hardware Apple sells infringes on one or more of the seven patents. The complete list includes the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS smartphones; the iPod Touch, iPod Nano and iPod Classic music players; the iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro desktops; and the MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks.
Nokia fired the first salvo in the battle last October, when it claimed Apple's iPhone infringed on 10 of its patents and said the U.S. company was trying "to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation."
Apple denied those charges in a Dec. 11 countersuit against Nokia in which it claimed that the phone maker infringed on 13 Apple patents. "Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours," said Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel, in a statement at the time.
By demanding an injunction, Nokia is bringing out the big legal guns. In Apple's most recent quarterly financial report, for instance, the company said that it generated nearly $4.3 billion in revenues in the U.S. on Mac sales alone.
At times, such tactics work. Late in 2009, small Canadian developer i4i Inc. was granted an injunction that banned U.S. sales of Microsoft Corp.'s Word 2003, Word 2007, Office 2003 and Office 2007 unless the U.S. software giant modified the applications. Microsoft has until Jan. 10 to make those changes.
Nokia asked for a jury trial in its second lawsuit, and it wants Apple to pay damages, with interest, if the company is found guilty of patent infringement.
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