Nokia sues over handsets
NOKIA, the world's largest mobile phone maker, has filed copyright infringement lawsuits against two of its competitors, Sagem of France and Vitelcom of Spain. Sagem is a leading French technology firm and maker of mobile phones, which in the first nine months of this year shipped some 15 million handsets – about 10 per cent of the total shipped by Nokia during the same time.
Nokia says Sagem's top-of-the-line myX5-2 model, in particular, bears a resemblance to its 6000 series handsets.
"It's especially the look of the phone and certain of its features, so we have sued Sagem to stop the design infringement and asked it to pay damages," Nokia spokeswoman Rita Maard said.
She declined to specify the amount Nokia was seeking from Sagem.
Earlier this year Nokia set up a special unit to pursue infringements of its design rights. The case against Sagem is the first major result of the move.
In the past, Nokia mostly tracked down illicit use of its technology but it has now stepped up protection of its design rights, Ms Maard said.
"Nokia is investing a lot of money in design and technology and we want to be more active on the design protection side as well," she said.
