Leading phone makers Nokia and Apple will seek a US court hearing in mid-2012 in a dispute over the unauthorised use of patents.

Market-leader Nokia sued iPhone maker Apple last October, accusing the American firm of using its patented technologies without paying for them.

Nokia is seeking payment of up to $1.36 billion – approximately £890million – analysts say.

Apple filed a counter-suit in Delaware towards the end of 2009, accusing Nokia of infringing 13 Apple patents. It later removed four patents from the list.

Legal battles are increasingly common in the mobile industry as players vie for a piece of the fast-growing smartphone market, reported Reuters.

In another big legal case for the IT industry, Apple is also suing Taiwan’s HTC Corp, which makes touchscreen smartphones using Google software, accusing it of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone.

The US International Trade Commission has agreed to carry out both investigations.