Patent Wars Begin as Apple, Nokia Square Off

This week Apple and Nokia are facing each other in a legal conflict over smartphone patents before the International Trade Commission, the first of several disputes over intellectual property that could redefine the smartphone market.

The current conflict began in October 2009 when Nokia sued Apple, alleging that the Cupertino-based company had infringed on 10 of its patents with the iPhone. Apple countersued in December 2009, upping the ante by saying Nokia was in violation of 13 of its patents.

If Nokia wins, Apple could lose the right to sell the iPhone in the U.S. If Apple wins, Nokia's devices could be shut out of the U.S. market altogether. The losing company could end up going to the other for licensing rights to continue marketing its devices.

Whoever takes this round, the Apple-Nokia dispute is just the beginning of a series of legal conflicts for Apple. Up next are disputes with Motorola and HTC; The hearing in the HTC case is scheduled for May, according the the ITC Web site.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has turned to several top technology lawyers to beef up its legal team in advance of the case. Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel, came aboard last year after 15 years at Intel. Another recruit is Noreen Krall, formerly of Sun Microsystems. For outside counsel, Apple will get advice from William Lee, who successfully represented Broadcom against Qualcomm, and Robert Krupka, who negotiated Apple's $100 million settlement with Creative Labs in 2005.

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