Apple And Nokia Butt Heads In Another Patent War

Apple is undoubtedly one of the biggest tech companies in the world, with its smartphones and computers being some of the most sought after products in the market. Nokia, on the other hand, is a company that was left behind and has since conceded its place in the mobile industry. Even so, the two brands are at it again, and butting heads over another patent issue.

The last time that Apple and Nokia went head to head over patent issues was back in 2011 when both companies decided to settle on the issue of patent infringement, The Verge reports. This time, Apple decided to go after groups representing the fading smartphone company over certain patent-related actions that the iPhone maker argues is meant to get more money from them. As a result of this, Nokia decided to sue Apple once again.

The companies that Apple is going after are called patent assertion entities (PAE), which are third-party firms that Nokia is supposedly transferring its patents to, which include Acacia Research and Conversant Property Management. The American tech giant is asserting that Nokia is doing this in order to get around the agreement of fair use over technology that’s owned by the latter.

Specifically, Apple is saying that Nokia is transferring patents of its H.264 video codec and various other technologies in order to go after the iPhone maker again like it did in 2011. At that time, Apple agreed to pay Nokia with a one-time settlement fee in order to get it over with instead of drawing out the lawsuit for years.

On that note, H.264 video codec and some of the other patented technologies that Nokia is transferring to its PAEs are widely used by other products, which means that they fall under the category of fair and reasonable licensing terms known as FRAND. Apple is convinced that partnering with PAEs is Nokia’s way of wringing more patent fees from it since it couldn’t get exorbitant fees from the patent lawsuit last time, Computerworld reports.