Apple is fighting for all its worth. The mighty Apple is in the middle of lawsuits with Nokia, HTC and Motorola, to name a few. Nokia and Apple are currently in court, each claiming the other violated patent infringements. The 2 companies have been suing and countersuing since 2009. It doesn’t look like it’s going well for Apple though. According to an article by Dean Wilson, TechEye.net, the International Trade Commission (ITC) is backing Nokia in the lawsuit with Apple.
Apple and Nokia Battle It Out in Court
Nokia has sued Apple, accusing them of 10 patent infringements. Apple is claiming that the Symbian and S40 operating systems violate its patents. Does anyone else feel like they need a score card? Apple also has lawsuits and countersuits with Motorola and HTC over the Android OS and the multitouch screen technology. It seems like Apple is spreading itself a bit thin with all these lawsuits. I’m sure the lawyers are feeling pretty fat these days. As for Apple, this lawsuit could take a big bite out of the Apple. According to an article by Barb Dybwad, Mashable.com, “Analysts have now had a chance to crunch the numbers and estimate that Apple could face shelling out between $200 million and $1 billion to satisfy the suit if successful — and go on to say that Nokia has a pretty good case.”
Who’s on first? HTC and Microsoft signed patent agreements and have now released the new Windows Smartphone. In October Google joined Apple in a countersuit against Microsoft after Paul Allen, Microsoft founder, sued Apple and another 10 tech companies. Google is supporting HTC and Motorola in their lawsuit against Apple. Is anyone else a bit confused about who is which team?
Is the world picking on Apple? Earlier this month a class action suit was filed in California against Apple claiming that Apple maliciously released an upgrade for its 3G and 3GS iPhones that messed up the operating system. The lawsuit claims that Apple’s intent was to frustrate people with the iPhone 3G so that they upgrade to the iPhone 4G. They are dubbing the iPhone 3g, the “iBrick.” It seems to me that nothing is being accomplished other than the lawyers are all extremely busy and getting rich.
Stay tuned for updates on the Smartphone Wars. We will keep you posted with updates and the outcome of this multi-company legal battle. Surely some sanity will prevail? Perhaps not. After all, there are billions of dollars at stake and money makes people insane and obviously creates strange bedfellows.
What’s your take? Should Apple prevail? Is the technology truly theirs alone? Or do the other manufacturers have valid claims to the patents? Let us hear from you.
