Apple attracts one friend in Samsung appeal: Nokia
(Reuters) - Nokia has filed a brief in support of Apple Inc's bid to secure permanent injunctions against several Samsung Electronics Co Ltd phones, making the Finnish smartphone maker the only outside group to come forward in backing the iPhone maker's appeal.
The full brief filed on Monday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington is currently sealed. In an accompanying summary, however, Nokia argued that a trial court judge got it wrong when she denied Apple's request for a permanent injunction.
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In the filing on Monday, Nokia attorney Keith Broyles from Alston & Bird argued that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, erred by ruling that Apple must establish a "causal nexus" between its patented feature and the demand for its phones in order to secure a permanent injunction.
Such a rule "could cause wide-ranging damage to the United States patent protection landscape," Nokia said.
The deadline for amicus filings on behalf of Apple was Feb. 19, but Nokia asked for a 14-day extension to submit its brief. The Federal Circuit granted Nokia's request.
Besides Nokia, a review of the case docket shows, no other companies or advocacy groups have filed amicus briefs in support of Apple. An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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In Nokia's filing, Broyles wrote that Nokia's interest is to advocate for patent rights as a means of fostering innovation.
"Nokia has recently been involved in numerous U.S. patent lawsuits, as both a plaintiff and defendant," Broyles wrote. "Nokia is thus both a significant patent owner that might seek an injunction to protect its patent rights, and a manufacturer in an industry in which patent owners routinely issue threats of injunctions for patent infringement."
Apple had asked the Federal Circuit to fast-track its appeal and immediately hear it before the full court. However, the court rejected that request and assigned the case to a three-judge panel to hear it first
