HELSINKI, May 7 The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia said on Friday it had filed a new lawsuit against rival Apple accusing the US firm of infringing five Nokia patents with its latest iPhone and iPad devices.

The suit is the latest development in a fierce battle between the two mobile world titans that has seen a sharp drop in Nokia sales and a rise in sales of Apple's iconic iPhone.

“The patents in question relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices,” Nokia said in a statement.

The Finnish company said it filed the suit on Friday in the Federal District Court in the Western District of the US state of Wisconsin.

“Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in mobile devices” the group's general manager of patent licencing Paul Melin said in the statement.

“We have taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia's innovation,” he added.

In October last year, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple in a Federal district court for infringing 10 Nokia patents.

Apple hit back in December, countersuing Nokia on allegations it was infringing Apple patents.—AFP