Week 6 - Post 1: Nokia Joins Apple to Fight Samsung

       

        I read a very interesting article today about how Nokia has actually been supporting Apple in their case against Samsung, all for a variety of reasons.  First of all, Nokia supports Apple's stance in court that U.S. patent holders should all have injunctive relief against a defendant even if the defendant argues that their products infringe on vast numbers of patents, as opposed to just one.  Apple has also appealed a denial of a permanent injunction against Samsung in the United States, which Nokia is backing up thoroughly.  Nokia was intending to assist Apple in their appeal by issuing an amiscus brief, or a petition to file a brief on behalf of a certain party in court to suggest a rationale consistent with its own beliefs.  However Apple moved two weeks ahead of its expected deadline to begin filing its opening brief with the United States Court, throwing off Nokia, which had planned to submit their amiscus brief sometime right before the deadline.  However Nokia filed for and received permission to file its own brief anyways.
         What was most interesting about this article, besides the fact that Nokia wanted to help Apple in the first place, was how far Nokia is going to help Apple to defeat Samsung.  In 2011, Apple and Nokia settled a patent dispute, which would make it seem that both companies should not necessarily be getting along with each other, although they have become much closer recently.  In the long run the article says that Nokia may have to file several patents against Apple once again, but that currently Nokia has several patent assertions against the makers of the Droid powered phones by HTC and Viewsonic.  Thus we see how Nokia currently has motive to work with Apple against a common enemy, however there seems to be somewhat more to Nokia's strategy in the long run.  Perhaps Nokia has realized that it is rapidly losing its share in the mobile phone industry, and they are trying to avoid future complications with Apple?  What other motives could Nokia have for supporting Apple?

Link: http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/03/nokia-files-amicus-brief-supporting.html