The Apple-Nokia domestic patent battle has gone international: no longer limited to the United States, it has now spilled over into the United Kingdom, according to Reuters. Cupertino is suing the Finnish company in Britain for violating nine of the 13 patents claims in the original complaint and, like the original, accuses Nokia of attempting to copy the iPhone. Why is Apple bothering? To double its odds: two attacks in two different countries are apparently better than one. "We are investigating the claims, which appear to be based on nine implementation patents already in suit between the two companies in the United States," Nokia said in a statement.
Nokia sued Apple for patent infringement in October 2009, only to have Apple return the favor in December 2009. Nokia sued Apple again in the earlier stages of 2010, this time focusing on the iPad. At this rate, it looks like this battle will soon transform into an outright war.
The US trade body ITC will be deciding on some of the claims between the two companies next year, while the key court hearings are scheduled for 2012. This new attack in Britain also likely won't be resolved anytime soon.