Apple has filed a lawsuit against Nokia in Britain claiming patent infringement, extending the ongoing dispute between the two companies beyond U.S. borders. Reuters reports that the U.S. International Trade Commission is set to rule on some of the claims made by the two companies next year, while court hearings in the U.S. legal case aren’t scheduled until 2012. “We are investigating the claims, which appear to be based on nine implementation patents already in suit between the two companies in the United States,” said Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant.
The Finnish company filed suit against Apple in October 2009, claiming that the iPhone infringes on several Nokia patents; Apple filed a countersuit claiming patent infringement in December. The lawsuits were followed by an ITC complaint from Nokia near the end of the year, alleging that Apple infringes on the Finnish company’s patents “in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.”
The ITC launched an investigation into Nokia’s claims against Apple in late January; it announced a similar investigation into Apple’s claims against Nokia in February. In March, a federal judge in Delaware signed an order halting litigation between Nokia and Apple pending resolution of the companies’ respective claims with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC); Nokia then sued Apple again in May, alleging that the iPhone and iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G infringe on five of its patents.