Nokia-Qualcomm patent war far from over

After dismissing Nokia's latest legal claim as plain delaying maneuver, Qualcomm Inc. again added fuel to the already fiery battle against the handset maker.

Qualcomm filed last week another suit against Nokia in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division for infringement of two patents and in the Western District of Wisconsin for infringement of three patents directed exclusively to Nokia GSM/GPRS/EDGE cellular phones.

The Texas suit included U.S. Patents Nos. 7,113,776, 7,065,388 and 7,139,559 all generally relating to the downloading of applications and other digital content over a GPRS/EDGE wireless data network. The suit in Wisconsin included U.S. Patents Nos. 7,184,954 and 6,205,130, which both relate to speech encoders used in certain models of GSM cellular phones. Qualcomm seeks injunctive relief against future sales and damages related to phones already sold.

The company's litigation is part of a worldwide effort to prevent Nokia from using its patented innovations without paying royalties. Qualcomm previously filed two other patent infringement lawsuits against Nokia's GSM/GPRS/EDGE cellular phones in the United States. Similar cases are pending in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and China.