Welcome back to Apple's patent wars
SAN FRANCISCO — Here we go again.
Apple is embroiled in another patent-infringement dispute — this time, with Nokia over technology patents covering displays, software, user interfaces, chip sets, video coding, antennas and other functions.— rekindling thoughts of its other long-running feud.
For five years, Apple and smartphone nemesis Samsung warred in court over design patents, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court's 8-0 ruling this month that Samsung may not owe Apple the full profits from smartphones that copied iPhone design.
The legal wrangling cost each company millions of dollars in attorney fees, underscoring the importance in protecting one's intellectual property as smartphones increasingly become commodities. On that front, Apple is in the position of defending its turf against a slew of smartphone makers.
In its latest skirmish with Nokia, Apple is back in the position of playing defense. History is about to repeat itself.
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