Why Nokia is suing Apple

It seems Nokia, in regards to those following their lawsuit/countersuit drama with Apple, feels like keeping people waiting.  The Finnish cell phone behemoth was expected to issue a statement on Apple's countersuit for patent infringement today, but so far nothing has been made public. 

The lack of forthcoming information may not strike most as a surprise, as the situation has become incredibly complex.  Though Apple's countersuit carries its own weight, it's important to first understand Nokia's position on the original suit.

According to an article from the New York Times, this issue is not so much that Apple infringed upon patents held by Nokia (which, it seems, they truly did), but that Apple did so without asking nicely.  Essentially, Nokia, along with other manufacturers like Sony Ericsson and Samsung, invested millions (or billions, in Nokia's case) of Euros in developing the GSM cellular standard, along with UMTS (or "3G," to us Americans).  Nokia ended up with the necessary patents for wireless data transfer along these standards, but all the other companies who contributed something were generally allowed a free pass to use these patents without fear of litigation. 

To put it another way, everyone who helped Nokia bake the pie gets to eat off the plate for free.

Nokia's main argument is that, since Apple did not contribute to the creation of the wireless standards they've used to become rich(er), they should have to pay dearly for their trespass. 

The question is: where does it stop?  If Nokia is victorious, what would stop them from going after Google, then HTC, Motorola, and so on?  All manufactuers have developed devices that transfer data in a similar (though maybe not legally distinct) fashion to the iPhone... they just haven't taken a big enough bite out of Nokia's profits.  At least, not yet... and in case they ever do, lets hope they each have a good laywer.