In retaliation to Nokia’s last month filing of a patent-infringement complaint against Apple, with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), Apple has filed a counter-compliant alleging that Nokia has copied the “enormously popular and patented” iPhone interface frameworks.

Apple, in its January 17-filed complaint with the ITC, has requested the withdrawal of Nokia products from the US markets, due to the alleged infringement of certain patents. It specifically pointed to Nokia’s E71, 5310 and N900 handsets as patent freeloaders.

Meanwhile, the earlier Nokia complaint with the ITC had sought the stalling of the imports of the iPhone, which it said was the original patent offender, as well as Apple’s music players and computers. Nokia had leveled 13 patent infringements against the iPhone, including patents pertaining to power-saving software, GUI patterns and colors, and syncing configurations.

Noting that almost 40 OEM phone-manufacturers license its patented wireless technologies, Nokia, which boasts over 10,000 families of patents, claims that Apple had “rejected” its offer to license the relevant technologies.

Commenting on the intensifying patent-infringement battle between Apple and Nokia, IP consultant Andrew Watson said that Nokia being a pioneer of wireless technology is justifiably entitled to its licensing fees, which, however, should be regulated. Referring to Nokia, Watson said in a blog post: “They know perfectly how to play the standards game, and stop others playing the same way.”