Nokia Wages Cold War On Russian Blogger Over Leaked N8 Prototype

Nokia is taking a bite out of the Apple pie, dropping a dime to police on a Russian blogger the Finnish smartphone giant says got his mitts on an early prototype and won't let go.

Nokia's tale of the N8, which the company said Eldar Murtazin, editor-in-chief of Moscow-based mobile-review.com, will not return, bears striking similarity to Apple's flap with Gizmodo earlier this year surrounding an Apple iPhone 4 prototype that was reportedly lost in a bar, found by a reporter and reported on, sending Apple into a legal frenzy in attempts to recover the device.

In Nokia's case, much like Apple's, Nokia claims that Murtazin got a hold of "unauthorized Nokia property."

Murtazin's refusal to hand over the N8 prototype prompted Nokia to contact Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs in hopes that a little police pressure will do the trick, Nokia said in its official statement on the Nokia Conversations blog.

"We have asked Murtazin for the return of all Nokia property in his possession," Nokia wrote. "As he has declined to reply, we asked the Russian authorities to assist us. We leave it to the Russian authorities to determine the most appropriate course of action."

In his early review of the Nokia N8 prototype, Murtazin panned the smartphone, questioning whether the device will become Nokia's new flagship smartphone or if it will be the "disappointment of the year."

Despite his apparent dislike for the Nokia N8 prototype, Murtazin doesn't want to return the device. In a post on his Live Journal blog, Murtazin wrote that he didn't violate any Nokia trade secrets and said he's tried to get a hold of Nokia over the past several months but called his attempts "fruitless" and that Nokia "rejected" communication.

Murtazin added that Nokia's claims that he and mobile-review violated a trade secret agreement are bogus.

"But we did not sign any non-disclosure agreement with this company," he wrote. "And Nokia are well aware of this."

And Nokia made it very clear its contacting the Russian authorities is not directly related to Murtazin's bad review of the N8 smartphone prototype.

"To be clear, we have no issue with individuals voicing their opinions about our company and our products. At Nokia, we pride ourselves on being an open and transparent company. However, the protection of our intellectual property is something we take very seriously," Nokia wrote. Later, the company added: "This is not about attacking bloggers or people who give critical reviews of our products."

Nokia would not disclose what it will do in the event that Murtazin returns the device.