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.
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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
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 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.
"Anything else that
diverts attention from getting that out there and products shipped and bought
is going to be detrimental for the business."
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 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.
"Anything else that diverts attention from getting that out
there and products shipped and bought is going to be detrimental for the
business."