Apple Inc. filed a new patent-infringement complaint on January 15th against Nokia Oyj. The complaint was posted yesterday without any details on the website of the International Trade Commission.

Apple’s complaint is in retaliation to Nokia filing its own complaint last month at the ITC trying to ban the imports of Apple’s iPhone, iPod and MacBook, apparently for infringing upon Nokia’s patents regarding GSM, UMTS, and WiFi, as well as ‘implementation patents’ that included camera sensors and touchscreens.  Patent fights are just part of an increasing legal battle over smartphone technology.

The ITC, (a government agency assigned with protecting the US market from unfair trade practices), has not decided to investigate either Apple’s or Nokia’s complaints just yet.  If they do decide to investigate, which they typically do, it could take up to 15 months to complete.