Nokia vs. Qualcomm: the never-ending battle

Another day, another lawsuit is filed between Qualcomm and Nokia. However, this time the suit comes from Nokia, which has filed a counterclaim against Qualcomm. The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Wisconsin, says that Qualcomm has been using Nokia IP in its mobile phone chipsets and making those chipsets available to other handset customers. Specifically, Nokia says that Qualcomm is infringing on six Nokia implementation patents that are being used in Qualcomm GSM/WCDMA and CDMA2000 chipsets. Nokia is seeking damages and an injunction against Qualcomm.

This is just the latest in the battle between the two wireless heavyweights. The companies have been involved in a lengthy dispute over how much Nokia should pay Qualcomm for using its patented CDMA and WCDMA technology in Nokia phones. In April, Nokia paid Qualcomm $20 million for licensing technology covered by some of the chipmaker's patents, but the transaction was unrelated to the ongoing spat about WCDMA handsets. Qualcomm later rejected that payment and Nokia responded to the rejection by publicly disputing statements made by Qualcomm that it does not use Nokia patents. 

For more on the Nokia-Qualcomm saga:
- see this WSJ article (sub req.)
- also check out this press release