Nokia on Friday asked for a dismissal of Apple’s anti-trust claims against it, arguing that the allegations are “designed to divert attention away from free-riding off of Nokia’s intellectual property,” according to Wilmington, Del. court papers quoted by Bloomberg. The Finnish company accused its rival of “revisionist history, misleading characterizations, unsupported allegations and flawed and contradictory legal theories to turn these fruitless negotiations into a multi-count federal lawsuit.”
Nokia fired the first shot in the war last October, filing a patent violation suit against Apple. Apple then shot back with a pair of its own patent claims, arguing not only infringement but also purposeful withholding of patent information and demanding unreasonable royalties. Both companies have asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to block imports of the other’s phones.
The ITC plans to hear evidence in Apple’s claims against Nokia in October, with a final decision planned by June 2011. It hasn’t set a hearing date for Nokia’s claims, although it plans to complete that case by May 2011. Meanwhile, one of the patent lawsuits, involving the same patents the ITC is looking at, is on hold, while the other patent case may go to trial in April or May 2012.