axxxr
Joined: Mar 21, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Londinium
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Nokia is being sued for infringing on a patent for technology allowing mobile phone users to answer their phones without touching them.
yahoo news article
"Nokia is infringing on a patented invention that makes it possible to answer the phone without touching it... controlling it by touching a button in the hands-free device or through voice control," said Antti Kosunen, chief executive of Anadeus, a company that advocates patent-holder rights.
Kosunen told AFP that he did not yet know how much money inventor Jari Lahtinen could stand to win from the mobile phone giant, but pointed out that the awarded sum would be linked to Nokia's production.
"We're talking about millions or tens of millions of euros (dollars)," he said.
According to Kosunen, Lahtinen filed for the patent in 1995 and was issued the patent in 2003.
"When he filed the patent application he immediately contacted Nokia, but they said they weren't interested. Then they started (using) the technology at the end of the 1990s... This is an infringement because Nokia was well-aware of the patent," Kosunen said.
Nokia spokeswoman Riita Mord meanwhile pointed out that the case was only related to the use of the technology in Finland and said that the company was "seeking to invalidate the patent".
"We are questioning whether this patent should have been issued," she told AFP, adding that the question of the validity of the patent would be put on trial before the question of whether Nokia is guilty of infringement.
The first court ruling in the case is expected within the next year, but it could take years before the final outcome is known, according to Kosunen.
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[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2005-06-08 13:05 ] |
Posted: 2005-06-08 14:05
