Nokia Sues HTC, RIM, And Viewsonic For Patent Infringement

Looks like Nokia isn't content with playing fair and square in the US smartphone market. The company has just announced that it is filing suit against HTC, RIM, and Viewsonic for patent infringement. Nokia claims that the companies make use of 45 patents that belong to Nokia without a proper license. The Finnish smartphone manufacturer will be bringing the suit against the companies in the US and Germany.

Louise Pentland, chief legal officer at Nokia, says that the company has licensed its patents to more than 40 companies, and while it would prefer to avoid a lawsuit, "Nokia had to file these actions to end the unauthorized use of our proprietary innovations and technologies, which have not been widely licensed."

Nokia will be going after the companies in a few different ways: it has filed a complaint to the International Trade Commission against HTC, brought suits against HTC and Viewsonic in Federal District Court of Delaware, again against HTC and RIM in Regional Court in Dusseldorf, Germany, and finally against all three companies in the Regional Courts in Mannheim and Munich, Germany. Nokia claims that 45 of its patent are being infringed.

Patents which are being wrongfully used include dual function antennas and power management, plus software features such as multitasking, navigation, data encryption, and downloading of email attachments.