

Nokia: Every Apple product infringes on our patents - optiplex
http://www.edibleapple.com/nokia-every-apple-product-infringes-on-our-patents/

======
kenshi
I guess Nokia are really desperate to cross-license some touch screen UI
patents from Apple.

I predict Apple will drag this out for as long as it possibly can, and then
finally settle out of court.

------
ryanelkins
I like "And in regards to Nokia’s accusations, Apple argues that some of
Nokia’s patents aren’t valid, and moreover, asserts that even if they were
found to be valid, Nokia refuses to license them on 'fair, reasonable, and
non-discriminatory terms.'"

Basically - these patents aren't valid, but if they WERE valid they won't let
us use them so we copied them and that should be OK. It reminds me of OJ's
book - IF I did it, here's how it happened.

~~~
jws
I believe the "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" keyword phrase comes
the standards committee work where Nokia voluntarily promised that any patents
relevant to the standards would be licensed as such. (Think GSM, UMTS, and all
the cell phone protocols). Remember, just because legalese looks like English
doesn't mean it is.

In order for standards committees to work without degenerating into a self
serving orgy of "hide the patent requirement" the players generally agree to
this. RAMBUS is a good example of why this is needed.

This may come down to: Does Nokia have patents, which are not covered by any
of their standards obligations, that Apple is infringing. I expect there are
some or Apple would not also have the "not valid" card on the table. Apple's
pockets are deep enough to fight a patent validity suit.

Meanwhile, Nokia will be doing the same in reverse for Apple's patents, except
that Apple won't have the "reasonable and non-discriminatory" obligation.

~~~
boucher
But are standards committee members actually bound by promises they made to
said committees? In other words, as members of the organization did they sign
a legally binding contract?

It may be a jackass thing to do, but if they aren't actually legally obligated
to license under "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" then the standards
argument won't hold any water.

~~~
delayclose
I doubt Nokia is willing to burn the bridges with standardization bodies like
that.

~~~
boucher
The argument would be that they've already burned those bridges. In other
words, all that matters here is really how vulnerable they are to Apple's
legal threats.

------
anr
Nokia seems to be desperate. Maybe they think their situation is hopeless?

------
NathanKP
These patent wars are getting more and more ridiculous. It is like a soap
opera, who is going to sue who next?

