Earlier this year it was reported that based on a rumor, Nokia could be dropping Samsung as a component supplier due to allegations of design theft. Whether these rumors are true remains to be seen or proven, but in the meantime it looks like Nokia will be throwing their weight behind Apple and giving them support in the ongoing Apple versus Samsung legal tousle that has been going on far longer than it should have. Nokia has filed a brief with the US federal appeals court which basically supported Apple’s bid to block Samsung products found to have infringed on their patents.
It should be noted that this is not an outright support that claims Apple is right, but rather it agrees with Apple’s stance that permanent injunctions should be allowed. Judge Lucy Koh, the judge presiding over the Apple-Samsung legal case ruled that in order to gain a permanent injunction, a causal nexus needs to be obtained. Nokia believes that obtaining a causal nexus is “burdensome” and that it would make it extremely difficult for patent holders to obtain permanent injunctions, and ultimately “harm incentives to innovate”.
We’re not sure if Nokia is approaching this from a concerned patent holder point of view, or if the rumors of their beef against Samsung is true and they’re rooting for Apple to win this case. In turn Apple’s win could be used as a precedent for future Nokia patent related cases as well. It’s purely speculation at this point, but it’s an angle that isn’t a stretch of the imagination.