Blackberry devices could be forced off shop shelves if it does not agree to pay licence fees
Nokia has asked courts in the US, UK and Canada to block sales of rival Blackberry smartphones.
It follows a patent dispute between the Finnish company and Blackberry's parent, Research In Motion (RIM).
Nokia says an earlier ruling means RIM is not allowed to
produce devices that offer a common type of wi-fi connectivity until it
agrees to pay licence fees.
All current Blackberries would be affected. RIM had no comment.
It is the latest legal distraction for the Canadian company
as it prepares to launch an operating system that could determine its
survival.
Share drop
Nokia's action comes two months after an arbitration ruling by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in Sweden.
The organisation had been asked to act as an arbitrator in a
dispute over RIM's use of handsets and tablets featuring wireless active
network (WLAN) connections to the internet.
Nokia says more than 40 companies license its mobile-phone patents
RIM had argued that an earlier licensing deal with Nokia meant
it should not have to pay a separate fee for the technologies. However,
the tribunal disagreed.
After news of Nokia's latest action was revealed by Computerworld magazine, RIM's shares fell more than 10% in after-hours trading in New York.
When contacted by the BBC, Nokia confirmed it had taken
action "with the aim of ending RIM's breach of contract", adding it
would also continue to pursue a separate case against RIM in Germany involving antenna, email and navigation technologies.
Nokia noted it had licensed its intellectual property rights
to more than 40 other companies. The revenue from such deals helps
justify its current $11.8bn (£7.4bn) market valuation.
Patent wars
RIM is also fighting several other patent lawsuits at this time.
They include a dispute with Washington-based patent portfolio
owner SoftVault Systems, which alleges RIM has infringed its
anti-piracy DRM (digital rights management) technologies.
RIM is also involved in a case against California-based
Lochner, which is suing a number of big-name tech firms over the way
their devices play videos streamed over the internet.
RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins talks through the Blackberry 10 system
RIM has itself sued others in the past over patents, including
Motorola - before the handset division was bought by Google - and the
instant message software Kik,
However, the timing of the clash with a big-player like Nokia
could be particularly troubling as it comes less than three months
before RIM plans to release its first Blackberry 10 handsets.
"RIM has had a tough time losing market segment to other
smartphones. And the future of the business is now going to be based on
the success of its new operating system, which itself has been delayed,"
said UK-based patent attorney Andrew Alton, from Urquhart-Dykes &
Lord, who has previously acted for Apple.
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