Apple and Samsung are currently involved in a legal war that's spanned multiple continents and more lawsuits than one can keep track of. Today a new company's name has entered the battle, and while the firm is simply giving its opinion on the case rather than actually suing either Apple or Samsung, the company's history in mobile makes its comment on the matter noteworthy.
As noted by The Wall Street Journal, Nokia recently filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concerning Judge Lucy Koh's December 2012 decision to deny Apple's request for injunctions on several Samsung products. While Nokia was careful not to straight-up take sides in the case, the Finnish firm explained why it supports Apple's right to seek bans on products that products that infringe its patents. Nokia said that it supports permanent injunctions in certain instances because they can help to "encourage innovation." The company also claimed that Judge Koh's decision should be reversed because it thinks that the "the wrong legal standard" was applied and that the court placed an "overly-strict and undue burden" on Apple.
While Nokia's amicus brief could end up having no impact on the Apple v. Samsung legal battle, it's still interesting to see the Finnish device maker offer its two cents on the matter. Nokia is big on patents, though, as the WSJ points out that the company's got a stash of over 10,000 patents that have come from of the $40 billion it's spent on research and development in the past 10 years. As a result, Nokia would probably like to be able to protect its investment and get a ban on any products that might infringe its patent portfolio in the future, and it feels as though the results of this Apple-Samsung war could have an effect on its ability to do so. Apple is currently appealing Judge Koh's order that denied its request for a sales ban on multiple Samsung devices.
