Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Thursday it has filed patent infringement complaints against U.S.-based rival Apple Inc. in the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands, the latest in a string of suits in the mobile device industry.

Nokia's suit said Apple's products, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, infringed patents in those countries related to features such as the touch user interface, device application stores and antenna design.

"These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts," said Paul Melin, Nokia vice president for intellectual property. Apple spokesman Adam Howorth declined to comment on the latest patent suit, which follows a range of earlier legal battles in the mobile device industry.

In October 2009, Nokia accused Apple of violating 10 patents with its iPhone, and later followed up with claims against its iPad as well. Apple has countersued, accusing Nokia of infringing 13 patents, violating antitrust laws and breach of contract. Both companies have so far denied the other's infringement allegations.

In March 2010, Apple also brought patent-infringement allegations against HTC Corp., a Taiwan-based handset maker which has adopted Google Inc's increasingly popular Android operating system. HTC denied the allegations.

Handelsbanken analyst Martin Nilsson said the latest claims announced Thursday are likely to be resolved out of court as both Nokia and Apple hold important mobile technology patents that they will probably "net out" in a settlement.

By: DocMemory
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