Nokia Sues Apple AgainNokia Sues Apple Again

Nokia has filed another lawsuit against Apple, adding more technologies to the Finnish company's patent infringement claims that now include the recently released iPad as well as the iPhone.

The latest suit, filed in a Wisconsin federal court, stems from five patents related to technologies "for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices," Nokia said in a statement released Friday.

"We have taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia's innovation," Paul Melin, general manager of patent licensing for Nokia, said.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment in time for this story.

The latest suit is the second filed by Nokia in seven months. The first one, filed last October in a Delaware federal court, claims Apple's iPhone infringes on 10 patents related to wireless technologies.

Apple countersued in December in the same court, claiming some of Nokia's phones infringe on 13 patents governing real-time signal processing, teleconferencing, display graphics, power conservation, and other technologies. The infringing products include Nokia's E71 smartphone, all of the company's devices with a built-in camera and those products that use the S60 or Symbian operating platforms.

In a separate action, both companies have filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, asking the agency to bar the other company from importing patent-infringing products into the United States. Companies in patent disputes often turn to the USITC for importation bans.

Nokia announced its latest suit the same day Apple said the iPad slate computer would make its international debut May 28 in nine countries. The company said it would start taking pre-orders in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom starting Monday.

On May 3, Apple announced that it had sold 1 million iPads in the United States, just 28 days after its April 3 release.