Apple has fired back at Nokia. Last month, Nokia filed its own complaint with the ITC, seeking to ban imports of Apple’s iPhone, iPod and MacBook. Yesterday, notice of Apple's complaint was posted on the Web site of the ITC.
The US ITC is tasked with protecting the US market from unfair trade practices. This all began last year when Nokia sued Apple for patent infringment related to GSM, UMTS, and wi-fi. Nokia later expanded the claim to include "implementation patents" covering a wide range of technology including touchscreens and camera sensors.
The Apple complaint was expected. The ITC has not agreed to examine the Nokia complaint, nor has it agreed to look at the Apple complaint.
Nokia spokesperson Mark Durrant responded to Bloomberg's query about Apple's complaint saying, "Nokia will study the complaint when it is received and continue to defend itself vigorously. However this does not alter the fact that Apple has failed to agree appropriate terms for using Nokia technology and has been seeking a free ride on Nokia's innovation since it shipped the first iPhone in 2007."
In terms of global market share, Nokia has the largest piece of the world "pie," but it has been steadily losing market share to both BlackBerry and the iPhone. As of the third quarter of 2009, Nokia owned 39.3 percent of the global market, but that was down from 42.3 percent the year before.
While, as earlier noted, the ITC has not agreed to investigate either claim, it typically will do so. Such investigations generally take about 15 months to complete.
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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