Apple Takes Nokia Patent Battle to the UK

Apple extended the playing field in its patent battle with Nokia to include the U.K. The two companies files lawsuits against each other over mobile phone-related patent infringement claims in the U.S., and now Apple has filed a new patent infringement suit against Nokia in the U.K., according to BusinessWeek.

The filing in the U.K. includes the same patent infringement allegations that are part of Apple’s U.S. case against Nokia.

Nokia filed a patent infringement lawsuit in October 2009 over claims that the wireless technology in most of Apple’s products violate patents the cell phone maker owns. Apple fired back with its own lawsuit against Nokia in December for allegedly violating several patents it owns.

The two companies also filed complaints with the International Trade Commission. The lawsuits were put on hold while the ITC conducted its own investigation into the complaints.

Apple’s new case in the U.K. didn’t come as a surprise to Nokia.

“This is an unsurprising development, which seems designed to put pressure on the ongoing dialogue between both companies,” commented Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant. “It changes nothing in the fundamentals of the matter, which are rooted in Apple’s refusal to respect Nokia’s intellectual property and attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.”