Patent war: Nokia files 13 suits against Apple

Accusing Apple for using its technology in devices like iPod, iPhone and iPod Touch, the world's No.1 cellphone company, Nokia has filed 13 patent infringement suits in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

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Apple of infringing on Nokia patents related to several technologies, including touch user interfaces, on-device app stores, signal noise compression, and modular structure.

"The Nokia inventions protected by these patents include a wiping gesture on a touch screen to navigate content, or enabling access to constantly changing services with an on-device app store, both filed more than ten years before the launch of the iPhone," Paul Melin, vice president of Intellectual Property at Nokia, said in a statement.

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"These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts," Paul Melin said.

The two tech giants have been waging a patent battle since 2009. While Nokia filed a suit against Apple in 2009, for alleged violation of patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards used in iPhone, Apple accused Nokia of infringing its patnets on signal processing and touch-screen display rotation.

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The patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, Nokia said in a statement last year.

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Patent litigations are not new to tech companies facing tough competitors. Besides Nokia, Apple has filed suits against HTC and Motorola.

Motorola is waging a patent war with Microsoft. The International Trade Commision in Washington is examining the patent suits.