Finnish handset giant Nokia has found the sisu to give Apple a taste of its own medicine and drag it to court over a patent dispute.

Nokia alleges that Apple used ten of its wireless patents on an overpriced compass. The patents in question are related to certain aspects of WiFi communication, as well as 2G and 3G protocols.

Ilkka Rahnasto, Nokia's Vice President of legal and intellectual property, claims that Nokia should be compensated and that "Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia's innovation."

Ironically, it is usually Apple who goes around suing people, but Nokia was also known to file a suit or two against competitors. However, while many Apple suits were rather frivolous, Nokia had a bit more success, reaching several costly settlements. It's very likely that the matter will never actually go to court and that we'll see some sort of settlement sooner or later. Analysts believe that Nokia could seek, and get, royalties per every iPhone sold, ranging from $6 to $12 per unit. This might not sound like much, but Apple has sold in excess of 21 million iPhones since 2007.

Some might say that Nokia has ulterior motives for lawsuit. Depending on who you ask, Nokia's smartphone share dropped to 35 or 45 percent, a steep decline from the 75+ percent share it enjoyed a few years ago. Like Apple, Nokia has good touchscreen smartphones, a decent OS and an app store, but it's just unable to compete with the iPhone or even hold its ground against some Windows-based smartphones.