In its Tuesday-filed lawsuit in the US District Court for Northern California, as well as in a UK court, the Finnish handset maker Nokia has sued as many as 11 LCD manufacturing companies, alleging that the have connived to fix prices of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) which are used in the Nokia phones.

Nokia contended that the collusion by LCD manufacturers – including Hitachi, LG Display, Seiko Epson, Philips, Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes – had led to an artificial inflation of prices in the LCD market from 1996 to 2006. The company said that as a result of the price-fixing conspiracy by the LCD manufacturers, Nokia had suffered substantial damages.

Though Nokia has refrained from divulging the magnitude of the damages it is seeking, the company has specified that it is looking to recover the overcharges that it paid because of the alleged cartel activities, which presently are being investigated by the government.

In its statement, Nokia said: “When certain companies and management employees have already admitted participating in, or are indicted for, global price-fixing cartels involving components Nokia has purchased, it is reasonable for Nokia to seek redress.”

Meanwhile, with AT&T also having filed a similar LCD makers’ collusion-related case, LG, Sharp, and Chunghwa Tubes have already confessed to being a part of the price-fixing cartel, and the U.S. Department of Justice has fined them $585 million.