The engadget article seems to imply that they've been trying to negotiate with Apple and couldn't reach agreeable terms. Maybe that's why the suit wasn't filed earlier (and, if that's the case: kudo's to Nokia for trying to handle it outside of court before filing suit).

And, I hope Apple loses. Big time.

mmmm...
time for popcorn

i think these are the reasons why nokia didn't sue sooner:

first, it takes time to verify that a competitor violates one of your patents.

second, i think it's highly likely apple and nokia have been negotiating over this behind closed doors for a while, and nokia finally got fed up by apple delaying the agreement.

Risk for Apple re multitouch patent defense: http://www.ipodobserver.com/ipo/arti...ld_hurt_apple/

Regarding general defense of patents (and the risk of not doing so):

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...c=news_ts_head

Now because the N900 is coming out. I suspect some part of the N900 hardware or of Maemo 5 may require an Apple license and a cross licensing deal could not be worked out.

If it's related to Maemo 6 and multitouch, the only reason to do it now instead of later is to introduce FUD regarding the iPhone while the N900 initially shows up in stores.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8321058.stm

story hits mainstream UK media.

another story from today's Guardian is perhaps an interesting add to this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...ia-n97-updates

Apple had their biggest and most profitable quarter this time. Its high time, Nokia concentrated on these small shops and let them grow. Common Nokia, you can do it!!

Nokia had upped its game when it announced the Maemo platform for its future smartphones. Its fun time from now on. And I am sure Nokia is going to retain its un-disputable lead too.

Strange that the press release only mentions iPhone and not iPod touch at all, since the infringments include WLAN in mobile devices which iPod touch also uses.

If memory serves right (from the last time Nokia's GSM IP came into quesiton with Qualcomm and a few others like Samsung et al), Nokia does tend to do a solid job of keeping this out of the public light. In this case, it actually doesn't do them good from a corporate view perspective since the recent earnings numbers don't look good for them.

Its more probable that they have been speaking with Nokia for sometime, and only recently has there been a reason for them to question something that Apple is doing. If they don't protect their IP in this case, in other cases they will lose out. And considering the nice payoff from the Qualcomm case (money changing hands and a agreement to not sue each other for a time), Nokia is playing their cards just fine.

Now, whether fans of Apple and Nokia realize that or not is another story. The internet does not portend to create intelligent discussions, just loud ones.

I wish I could thank ARJWright's post. IMO this is not Off Topic but General.

I predict the outcome will be:

1) a nominal payment from Apple to Nokia to cover past infringement
2) a license sharing agreement that lets the iPhone move forward as is, and lets Nokia utilize iPhone-isms for things like Multi-touch.

And, I'm pretty sure #2 is the hold-up in the negotiations, not #1. I bet Apple has a death-grip on preventing other manufacturers (esp. one as big as Nokia) from having a multi-touch experience that's comparable to the iPhone.