Nokia asks court to bar U.S. imports of Apple's Macs, iPhones, iPods

Computerworld ^ | 01/05/2010 | By Gregg Keizer

[Swordmaker]

Is Apple even an American company?

If is an American company. Apple products are designed in California.

[driftdiver]

“Continue trolling, though”

is the kool-aid pink or yellow?

[antiRepublicrat]

Sure they do.

Of course they do, unless you think Cupertino, CA, is in China. That as far as the government is concerned it might as well be is not germane to the discussion.

It's a pretty big place, full of all sorts of cool stuff, including high-end CNC machines (from CAD drawing to reality in a short time) for Ive to play with.

That's just one room.

[driftdiver]

just one room? thats all? pretty amazing.

Many companies which were founded in America have moved significant amounts of their operations offshore. Apple has done the same thing. The leadership positions of many of these companies are staffed by non-Americans, frequently from the country where operations are being shipped too.

These same ‘leaders’ use their American company status to influence American policy and laws. Apple is yet another example of this.

This thread is about a patent dispute between Apple and Nokia. Every single one of these threads is full of apple kool-aid drinkers who slander Nokia. As if Apple is lily-white in this entire situation.

We’ll see how the lawsuits work out. You people slam Nokia for asking for top dollar for their product and yet willingly slam down $600 for an over-price apple product.

So yeah I’m not all that impressed.

[Swordmaker]

Just because a company maintains an office in the US does not mean its truly an American company.

Sounds like the majority of the actual work is done outside the US.

Just how much of an idiot do you want us to think you are, driftdiver?

Apple Inc., is incorporated in California, and is traded on the NASDAQ,. The last I looked, California is still part of the United States of America. Apple contracts with companies in China and other countries to manufacture their products which are designed in California.

Company information
Apple Inc. was incorporated in California. The Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (“Apple”) design, manufacture, and market personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players and sells related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. The Company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, the Company sells third-party Macintosh (r) (“Mac”), iPhone(r) and iPod(r) compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores, and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store(r). The Company sells to consumer, small and mid-sized business (“SMB”), education, enterprise, government and creative customers. The Company also sells its hardware and software products to customers in enterprise, government and creative markets in each of its geographic segments. The Company’s operating segments consist of the Americas, Europe, Japan and Retail. The Americas segment includes both North and South America. The Europe segment includes European countries as well as the Middle East and Africa. The Retail segment operates Apple-owned retail stores in the U.S. and in international markets. The Company designs, develops, and markets to Mac and Windows users its iPhone mobile communication devices and its family of iPod digital music and video players, along with related accessories and services, including the online distribution of third-party digital content and applications through the Company’s iTunes Store.—Source.

Your Apple Derangement Syndrome is showing.

[thefactor]

Oh come on now! Al Gore is on Apple's Board of Directors!

How bad can they be?

[Swordmaker]

So its your contention that they design and manufacture their products outside the US because they are so successful?

So Apple is lying on all of their products where they say on the boxes "Designed in California"? and the Apple research and development labs in Cupertino and Elk Grove are empty buildings... and the parking lots full of cars at those locations are actually just CG?

[Swordmaker]

So its your contention that they design and manufacture their products outside the US because they are so successful?

So Apple is lying on all of their products where they say on the boxes "Designed in California"? and the Apple research and development labs in Cupertino and Elk Grove are empty buildings... and the parking lots full of cars at those locations are actually just CG?

[driftdiver]

Just how naive are you?

Just because they maintain a token office and are registered in the US they may meet the legal definition but not the reality. If a company does its manufacturing outside the US, does its QA outside the US, has operations outside the US it really isn’t an American company.

But perhaps you enjoy supporting companies that ship our technology overseas to our enemies.

[driftdiver]

I dunno, perhaps you can explain where they are manufactured.

[driftdiver]

“Al Gore is on Apple’s Board of Directors!”

Thats right, one of the worlds biggest blowhards and a man who seeks to redistribute all of our wealth works for this wonderful American company.

leftists thru and thru

[Swordmaker]

You’re either a troll or genuinely ignorant. Either way, my condolences.

Both are also possible and most likely...

[driftdiver]

Thanks for copying me on the insults.

[antiRepublicrat]

just one room

One room of the hardware design and development center.

Many companies which were founded in America have moved significant amounts of their operations offshore.

Apple moved manufacturing offshore, but Jobs wants the design aspect kept very close.

You people slam Nokia for asking for top dollar for their product

I don't slam Nokia for asking top dollar for their products. I do slam them for agreeing to RAND terms for their patents as part of them being included in standards, but then violating the "ND" part of "RAND" and asking more from one specific company in an effort to leverage that company into licensing its patents.

We know Nokia wants to copy the iPhone. A Nokia executive flat-out admitted it. Unfortunately for Nokia, they pretty much need at least some of those 200+ iPhone patents in order to make such a copy. This is their extortion attempt to get those patents.

Sad. Nokia made my first and second cell phones from the mid 90s. They tended to be at the forefront of phone technology back then. Now Nokia is reduced to an underhanded lawsuit because they can't come up with anything better than the competition.

[Swordmaker]

This thread is about a patent dispute between Apple and Nokia. Every single one of these threads is full of apple kool-aid drinkers who slander Nokia. As if Apple is lily-white in this entire situation.

Let's look at some of the facts and background of this dispute:

• Is this dispute about patents that are part of the GSM and UMTS International Standard for cellular telephone transmissions? It is.

• Are these International Standards required by binding agreements between the patent holders including Apple and Nokia to be licensed in a Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (F/RAND) manner according to the accords signed by all parties belonging to the standards group of which both Nokia and Apple are members. They are.

• Has Apple licensed all other patented portions of the GSM and UMTS International Standard from the respective patent holders under F/RAND terms? Yes, they have.

• Are the other patents at dispute part of the IEEE International Standards for 802.11 WIFI standards that both Nokia and Apple have contributed patents, many of which are supposed to be licensed free of charge to foster universal adoption? They are.

• Are these patents also covered by agreements requiring they be licensed to other standard group member under F/RAND terms? Yes, they are.

• Why has Apple NOT licensed the Nokia patented portions of the GSM and UMTS International Standard? Because Nokia is refusing to do so under F/RAND terms.

• Did Nokia demand that Apple pay an unreasonable, discriminatory license fee per iPhone unit THREE TIME greater than the fee charged to any other cell phone maker for each patent license, contrary to the signed F/RAND agreements? Yes, they did.

• Did Nokia DEMAND that Apple also provide them licenses at no cost to Nokia for Apple iPhone patents in addition before they would even agree to license the Nokia patents that were part of the GSM and UMTS International standards, again contrary to the standards organizations licensing agreements? Yes, they did.

• Did Nokia, when Apple refused to allow them to use Apple's iPhone patents, that were not part of any international standard, go ahead and use them anyway? Yes, they did.

• Do these agreements allow members who are NOT granted licenses under F/RAND terms to use the patents without said licenses? Yes they do, to prevent patent holders from doing exactly what Nokia is attempting.

These are establish facts, published in numerous articles in the worldwide press over the past three years. There is no slander here. The slander is from Nokia in breaking their contracts with international standards organizations and slandering members by stating they are "infringing patents" that are supposed to be freely usable by the groups' members AND supposed to be freely licensable by the members under F/RAND terms, when it was Nokia who was unilaterally in violation of the contracts failing to complete the licenses to Apple and attempting to use them as leverage contrary to the signed agreement to unfairly gain access to Apple's intellectual property. Apple is operating properly under those signed agreements.

[Swordmaker]

Just how naive are you?

You ARE an idiot. "Token office?"

Apple Headquarters, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, USA

Some token... This is just the North Campus.

Apple does not OWN the manufacturing facilities which are owned by Foxconn. They contract with numerous third party companies to build to Apple's designs.

[Swordmaker]

Thanks for copying me on the insults.

If you claim that Apple is not an American company, you are ignorant. Your presence on an Apple thread makes you a troll. Both are true. That makes them not insults. Facts. Live with it.

[driftdiver]

Facts? From you? ha perhaps you should read my comments instead of think of new ways Apple is perfect.

[driftdiver]

You apple weenies accuse me of being a troll for posting on a public forum and alternate viewpoint. If all you want to do is sit in a circle and love each other singing kum by ya then you can go to DU.

You never waste an opportunity to go on a windows thread and start throwing insults.

Apple is just another company who uses dirty tactics, over prices their products, and sends thousands of jobs offshore to produce an imperfect product. deal with it.

[Swordmaker]

Facts? From you? ha perhaps you should read my comments instead of think of new ways Apple is perfect.

I am not a liar. Stop the insulting ad hominem insinuations that I am.

Yes, FACTS. Every one of those statements I posted is true. If you weren't suffering from such a severe case of Apple derangement syndrome, you might have read them.

They've been posted in numerous articles both in tech journals and even mainstream news media during the past couple of months while this dispute has been building. Much of what I posted are stipulated as facts by both Apple and Nokia. Nokia is attempting to twist those facts into something that is an infringement... it is not. Nokia attempted to use its ownership of certain publicly available patents in an internationally accepted standard that has been agreed to be available to all who wish to participate in the standard in F/RAND terms in a discriminatory way to gain access to Apple's proprietary iPhone patents. First by demanding Apple grant them licenses to the iPhone patents in exchange for Nokia's agreement to even allow the regular rate terms... and then later punitively at discriminatory 2.5 to 3 times greater than market rates for the licenses when Apple refused to agree to the original terms.