Nokia has upped the ante in its wide-ranging legal battle with Apple, filing new claims in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, stating patent infringements by products including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. In a statement, the company said that the latest action adds 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in earlier actions involving the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and two US district courts. Patents for touchscreen input and on-device app stores were filed “more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone.” Other areas addressed by the patents include signal noise suppression, modulator structures, messaging functionality, caller ID, display illumination, the integration of multiple radios, and data card functionality.

Nokia was the first to go for its guns in the dispute, filing a suit with the US courts in October 2009 which alleged that Apple had violated Nokia patents which are “fundamental” to the creation of GSM, WCDMA and Wi-Fi enabled devices. Apple followed this up in December 2009, with a suit that accused Nokia of anti-competitive practices and patent infringement. This was followed by Nokia turning to the ITC in January 2010, stating that Apple infringed its patents with “virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers.” This was followed by Apple calling for the ITC to halt the import of Nokia products because they infringe Apple patents. It was reported in September 2010 that Apple had extended its actions with a suit in the UK. It was also said last month that staff of the ITC had indicated that they felt Nokia should not be found guilty of patent infringement, as the evidence presented “will not establish a violation.”