As noted by Reuters, Nokia this week filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in support of Apple's bid to block the sale of certain Samsung products previously ruled to have infringed on Apple's patents.
The brief, which is currently sealed but explained in a summary (via AppleInsider) by Nokia attorney Keith Broyles, argues that Judge Lucy Koh was wrong when she ruled that Apple must establish a "causal nexus" between the patented feature and demand for a product before a permanent injunction request is granted.
The filing comes several months after Judge Koh had denied Apple's injunction request.
Nokia's brief wasn't filed specifically to support Apple, but because Nokia feels that Judge Koh's ruling "could cause wide-ranging damage to the United States patent protection landscape." Broyles goes on to argue that Nokia is advocating for patent rights to foster innovation.
"Nokia has recently been involved in numerous U.S. patent lawsuits, as both a plaintiff and defendant. Nokia is thus both a significant patent owner that might seek an injunction to protect its patent rights, and a manufacturer in an industry in which patent owners routinely issue threats of injunctions for patent infringement."
Back in 2009, Apple and Nokia were embroiled in a patent dispute but that ended in 2011 when the two settled and entered into a patent license agreement.
Nokia is the only company to file in support of Apple, and will have an opportunity for companies and advocacy groups to support its position when it files its own brief later this year.
Top Rated Comments
Damnit, I miss Fringe.
Let's take CHEAP brand Samsung out of the market.
By the way, I think Nokia should rebrand. Everyone when he hears "Nokia" thinks of either a big old phone or a big old phone that is an indestructible weapon of mass destruction (which is for some reason an Internet meme even though old Nokia phones are pretty darn breakable).
Also, I was unsure about this patent dispute until the evidence of Samsung's diagrams showing how iPhone features could be implemented in their phones came up. Smoking gun. Totally guilty. I'm with Nokia and Apple on this one.
Something is definitely not right in all this...
How much more does the court need as evidence for stopping Samsung to sell infringing products? Apple went all the way thru the trial process and won, more or less fairly, but the COURT has not granted Apple ANY RELIEF from Samsung selling infringing products, Samsung hasnt paid a single dime of judgement, the court hasn't even made Samsung change or modify anything yet... What is the court WAITING FOR???