Nokia vs. Apple, here’s what you need to know: big companies have big teams of lawyers who get together every Friday night to play poker. Those lawyers use patents as bargaining chips. The more patents you have, the more leverage you have in screwing the other guy and staying in the game longer. Simple as that. The results of this case will not impact you in any way, what so ever, but the legal trial, like any legal trial, is fun to watch thanks to people’s vague misconceptions about the patent system.
Patents are broken, experts have admitted this, it’s the subject of many blog posts on the excellent Tech Dirt blog, but enough about the theory, time to get to the facts.
Here’s a time line composed by Tarmo Virki, and edited by Jon Loades-Carter, from Reuters about the cases that will no doubt cause a media shit storm to arise during the slow news cycle known as summer:
June 29, 2007 – Apple starts sales of iPhone.
Late 2007 – licensing talks between the two begin.
Spring 2008 – Nokia asks to pick Apple patents it wants to use as part of the settlement. Apple denies request.
May 2009 – Nokia demands royalties roughly three times higher than in 2008, and to pick some Apple patents.
Sept 2009 – Nokia demands have dropped to level of late 2007. Apple sees them still highly excessive.
Oct 22, 2009 — Nokia filed a suit in the District Court of Delaware, saying Apple had infringed its patents.[ID:nLM664007]
Dec 11, 2009 — Apple countersued Nokia, accusing it of anti-competitive practices and patent breach. [ID:nN11260646]
Dec 29, 2009 — Nokia filed a complaint with the U.S. trade body ITC, seeking to ban Apple from importing iPhones and other products into the United States. [ID:nLDE5BS173]
Jan 15, 2010 — Apple filed its own ITC complaint, seeking to ban Nokia from importing infringing phones into the United States. [ID:nLDE60F03W]
April 9, 2010 — U.S. court in Delaware splits main court case into three different trials and to hold these in 2012.
————————
Oct 2010 — ITC hearing over Nokia’s use of Apple patents
Nov 2010 — ITC hearing over Apple use of Nokia patents
May 31, 2011 — deadline for final ITC decision on Apple’s alleged use of Nokia patents
June 27, 2011 — deadline for final ITC decision on Nokia’s alleged use of Apple patents
May 2012 – the key trial over patents to start in Delaware
June 2012 – trial over Apple’s contract-related claims against Nokia in Delaware
Oct 2012 – trial over Apple’s antitrust claims against Nokia in Delaware