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US and German patents owned by smartphone maker Nokia are allegedly being violated by Apple. Nokia has since resulted to filing a patent infringement case against the latter.

Another patent lawsuit involving Apple and Nokia. It was back in 2009 when Apple and Nokia first butted heads over their patents. This time around, Nokia is directly suing Apple over patent infringement in US and German courts while Apple files an antitrust lawsuit against third-parties known as patent assertion entities.

Nokia claims that Apple has been using its technology in many of Apple's products without paying for it. Although a licensing agreement was signed between the two companies in 2011, subsequent offers made by Nokia to license some of their other patents to Apple were declined.

The complaints filed, three in German counts and one in a district court in Texas, involve 32 patents related to user interface, chipsets, video coding, display, and antennae. Nokia is preparing legal action elsewhere apart from German and US courts.

Apple argues that Nokia's patent licensing has agreements for fair and reasonable terms. However, Nokia is transferring these patents over to patent assertion entities to pursue more money. This shouldn't be allowed because of its anticompetitive and abusive nature according to Apple.

Aside from Nokia, Apple has clashed over patent violations with main rival Samsung, too. Apple was found guilty of infringing several of Samsung's patents.

Nokia was the leading mobile phone manufacturer from 1998 to 2011. Analysts say that Nokia failed to grasp the concept of the importance of software for its hardware.

Nokia eventually sold its handset unit in 2014 to Microsoft for, more or less, $7.2 billion. It is, however, making a comeback with an Android-powered smartphone as its 2017 flagship.

There's no doubt that Nokia entering the smartphone industry again could very well be the reason for its aggressive approach to patent infringements by rival companies. Share your thoughts in the comments section below!