Nokia 'seeking Apple royalties'

Mobile phone maker Nokia is suing Apple to try to extract royalty payments, an analyst has suggested.

Nokia said on Thursday that it was suing Apple for infringing patents on mobile phone technology for the iPhone.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates that the Finnish company might be looking to force royalty payments of 1-2% on every iPhone sold.

With more than 30 million sold, that would work out to $6 to $12 per phone sold, or as much as $400m.

That would be a relatively small amount compared with Apple's income.

Apple recently reported profits of $1.67bn (£1bn) for the three months to 26 September - partly due to a 7% growth in iPhone sales.

Nokia did not say in the lawsuit what form of penalties it was seeking.

'Uncertain' resolution

Mr Munster, a respected Apple watcher, called the maximum figure of $12 a phone "unlikely" and said even if it was enforced in court, it "would not change our positive thesis on the iPhone and Apple".

"Ultimately, the resolution is uncertain," he said.

An Apple spokesman told the BBC that the firm did not comment on pending litigation.

The 10 alleged patent infringements, which apply to all models of the iPhone since its launch in 2007, involve wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption.

Nokia accused Apple of "trying to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation".

Record recession for UK economy

The UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.4% between July and September, according to official figures, meaning the country is still in recession.

It is the first time UK gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted for six consecutive quarters, since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.

But the figures could still be revised up or down at a later date, because this figure is only the first estimate.

GDP measures the total amount of goods and services produced by a country.