iLounge

The U.S. International Trade Commission has launched an official investigation into whether Apple infringes on Nokia’s patents as the Finnish company has claimed. “We are pleased that the ITC has moved quickly to begin [its] investigation,” said a Nokia spokeswoman. Nokia first sued Apple in October 2009 claiming patent infringement, and was soon after countersued, with Apple claiming Nokia infringes on 13 of its patents. In December, Nokia filed a complaint with the ITC alleging that Apple infringes on the company’s patents “in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers;” less than three weeks later Apple filed its own complaint with the ITC, asking it to block Nokia imports to the U.S. The ITC has yet to decide whether it will launch a similar probe of Nokia based on Apple’s request.