The "Withings" brand is a line of healthcare products available from its online stores. Recently, Apple's store has removed these products from its roster possibly due to a Nokia purchase of the brand earlier this year for $192 million. It is also possible that the "Withings" line is part of the Apple versus Samsung infringement row where both sides are fighting a bitter patent battle against each other.
According to Digital Trends, a few days after Nokia's "patent trolls" filed a series of lawsuits against its innovations, the tech giant had withdrawn all "Withings" products from its online store. The news website said Apple has issued no official statement on the matter but it deduces that it is likely due to the legal issues concerning both parties.
Others said the Apple "legal move" is parallel to its legal battle/patent war of attrition with Bose when Apple acquired "Beats." Suing Apple for infringing its noise-cancelling patents, Bose's product line was cut from the online store. A few years after the legal battle was over, Apple restocked its shelves with Bose's product line.
According to Recode, last December 24, a quick Google search for "Withings" would show you their previous product links to the Apple website as top search results. Clicking on them would send you to an error message that indicates the product links are down or had been removed from the web store.
In its legal battle, bitter statements from both Apple and Nokia had emerged. Nokia had accused Apple of infringing 40 of its patents where Nokia said Apple refused to take new licenses for them. Apple said that Nokia is refusing to license its patents on fair terms.
While recovering its tech brand, the once-communications giant Nokia's business is mostly patent-related. It hires patent trolls to license the innovations it had from its heydays for profit. As it becomes a primary profit source Nokia grips tighter on its patents and would squeeze every drop out of its digital lemon -- even if it means colliding with tech giants such as Apple.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
