Every phone on the market regardless of price, size and platform has to feature a chip that makes emergency phone calls possible. The chip gives phones priority access to the network in case of congestion, e.g. during a natural disaster or some other calamity.

German patent troll IPCom claims it is the rightful owner of the IP used in the tiny but very important chip that makes it all possible. It is now suing Apple and demanding $2.1 billion in damages and the company claims to have successfully sued Nokia using the same patent, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Although Google, Apple, HTC, Ericsson and Vodafone have asked the European Patent Office to render the patent invalid, the office has not done so, citing the Nokia suit as one of its reasons. Phonemakers insist the patent is pointless, as it is part of a legally required standard.

Apple now has to go to court and prove its point and oddly enough it has a few competitors on its side.