Qualcomm sues Nokia for allegedly infringing on patents

In an escalating legal battle, Qualcomm said on Monday that it had filed suit against Nokia, accusing the mobile-phone maker of infringing on a dozen patents related to GSM, a cellphone standard that is used in two out of three handsets worldwide.

The suit, filed on Friday in a federal court in San Diego, comes after several companies -- including Nokia, Ericsson, Texas Instruments and Broadcom -- filed a complaint on Oct. 28 with the EU, charging that Qualcomm offered lower royalties on its cellphone-chip patents if customers also bought the chips.

The lawsuit intensifies an already fierce battle over one segment of the cellphone business: the growing market for handsets with multimedia functions like music players and cameras.

Robin Hearn, an analyst in London, said that Qualcomm was retaliating to make sure it holds on to its patent royalties, a principal source of income.