Nokia Takes The Low Road, Decides To Sue Apple

So much for Nokia beating Apple without turning to lawsuits. The company has been trying hard to beat Apple iPhone with a wave of products, but so far has not had the success you would expect from a top company such as Nokia. What happens when you try everything and still can’t make a dent against your main competitor? You try litigation. At least that’s what Nokia is trying. Apparently, it took a few years for Nokia to figure out that Apple was using the wireless standards Nokia helped develop a while ago. Nokia seems to have asked Apple to pay up in the past, but who would honestly expect Apple to pay up without a fight?

By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation

This may sound as a minor lawsuit, but experts are claiming that Nokia could get upto 5% per sold iPhone as a part of the ruling. If that comes to pass, it will be a kick in the stomach for Apple and a very hefty handout for Nokia. So what is the real reason for Nokia suing Apple after all these years? The main reason might be the decline in its market-share and sales. The times are tough, and Nokia does need to be compensated for the technologies it has helped develop. It is really an honorable to compete? Not really. But Apple would have probably done the same if it was in the same position.

I have always believed that litigation hinders innovation. In this case, Apple does probably afford to pay Nokia to get this over with. Nokia did take a long time to make its claim, but it has every right to sue. The bad news is you can expect to see more of these lawsuits in the future as smart-phone manufacturers fail to meet their sales goals and fall short of coming up with innovative devices that people want to buy. It’s not the most innovative way to increase revenue, but it works.

Your take: was Nokia right to sue Apple after all these months?