Apple Sues Nokia in London Over Patent for Touch-Screen Scroll

Apple Inc., maker of the iPad tablet and iPhone, sued Nokia Oyj in the U.K. over claims that one of the Finnish company’s European patents for scrolling technology on touch-screen handsets is invalid.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the High Court in London, challenges one of seven Nokia patents asserted against Apple in a September 2010 lawsuit in Dusseldorf, Germany, Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said today in an e-mail.

Nokia, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, has lost market share to competitors with more features on their devices. The company’s lawsuits against Apple in the U.S., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands, accuse the Cupertino, California-based company of violating 37 patents.

“Nokia is confident that all of the 37 patents it has asserted against Apple” are valid, Durrant said in the e-mail. “We are examining the filing and will take whatever actions are needed to protect our rights.”

Apple has earlier sued Espoo, Finland-based Nokia in the U.S. and U.K., and claims the company is trying to use the courts to force access to Apple’s iPhone technology.

Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple in Cupertino, declined to comment.

The case is Apple Inc. v. Nokia Corp., HC11C00093, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division (London).

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in London at elarson4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.