Handset manufacturer Nokia plans to launch touch-screen mobile phones in the near the future. In the recent Symbian Smartphone Show held in London last October, they already boasted their Symbian Series60 (S60) touch-screen interface.

More importantly, the Finnish company has already filed a patent about its technology as early as May 2006. According to Crave, the concept submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office is designed with 2 screens to show different kinds of information depending on the angle on which the clamshell is opened. Nokia plans to make this new technology available to the device manufacturers in 2008.

While the idea is very interesting, there is a bigger challenge to face – Apple, its iPhone, and its army of legal counsels. Apple CEO Steve Jobs claims to have filed at least 200 patents connected to touch-screen technology. With the impressive performance of iPhone, it is no doubt the company is very eager to defend its rights.

According to Nomura analyst Richard Windsor, Nokia will likely engage Apple in a legal scuffle should they proceed with this idea. It could delay or totally halt this project.

“I think Apple will likely view Nokia as infringing on its user interface patents,” said Richard Windsor “But I don’t see this being the same scale of the legal battle Nokia has with Qualcomm.

An out-of-court settlement will likely happen in 2009 instead of a long battle in the courtroom.

Via cellular-news