Nokia, one of the world's leading mobile phone makers, said Wednesday it had filed patent infringement lawsuits against mobile phone and electronics groups HTC, RIM and ViewSonic in the United States and Germany.

"Though we'd prefer to avoid litigation, Nokia had to file these actions to end the unauthorized use of our proprietary innovations and technologies, which have not been widely licensed," Nokia said in a statement.

Tomi Marjuaho repaired mobile phones for 10 years in the town of Salo in southern Finland, where Nokia, the world's top cell phone-maker, set up its wireless operations in the 1980s.

He took a severance package in 2010, as Nokia started hitting hard times, and has not found work since.

Mobile phone maker Nokia is seeking a U.S. patent for tattoos that vibrate to let people know when they have calls on their mobile phones.

Technology laid out in a patent application available online Wednesday would enable tattoos to receive magnetic waves emitted by mobile phones.

World-leading mobile phone maker Nokia intends to cut 4,000 jobs at its smartphone manufacturing facilities in Finland, Hungary and Mexico by the end of 2012, it said on Wednesday.

"The expected headcount impact by country is 2,300 in Komarom (Hungary), 700 in Reynosa (Mexico) and 1,000 in Salo (Finland)," company spokesman James Etheridge told Agence France Presse.

World-leading mobile phone maker Nokia on Thursday posted deep 2011 losses amid slumping handset sales and as its first Windows-based smartphone, aimed at shoring up its flagging market share, struggled to get off the ground.

For all of 2011, the company posted a net loss of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion), compared to a net profit of 1.8 billion euros a year earlier, while the final quarter of the year was hammered with a 1.07-billion-euro net loss after a profit of 745 million in the same period a year earlier.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show ended Friday, leaving gadget lovers with visions of a "Matrix"-like world in which the Internet surrounds them no matter where they go.

Makers of everything from cars and refrigerators to televisions, smartphones and software pitched innovations heralding the arrival of connected lifestyles made possible by "smart" devices.

Nokia, facing fierce competition to remain the world's top mobile phone maker, plans to sell its luxury unit Vertu that makes niche handsets, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

No buyer was mentioned and the sale is still in the early stages, the newspaper said, noting that Vertu has yet to be given a value though annual revenue is estimated to be between 200 and 300 million euros ($268-402 million).

Microsoft said Thursday that Nokia is going to launch phones using Windows' new mobile operating system next week, giving a major boost to the US firm's come-from-behind phone software business.

Windows Phone division chief Andy Lees said the Nokia devices were a huge development for Microsoft as it struggles to capture a piece of the market for mobile operating systems already dominated by Apple, Google and BlackBerry.

Apple and Samsung have overtaken long-time leader Nokia for the top two spots in the global Smartphone market, a report said Friday, underscoring the Finnish handset maker's ongoing struggles.

U.S.-based research firm Strategy Analytics said the U.S. and Korean Smartphone makers outpaced Nokia in the second quarter, with the sector posting record quarterly shipments of 110 million units, or a 76.3 percent year-on-year rise.

The world's number-one mobile phone maker Nokia said on Thursday that 2,800 developers working on its Symbian Smartphone platform would move to consulting company Accenture.

"There’s a tremendous amount of work going on around Symbian, with up to ten new Symbian Smartphones planned in the next 12 months alone," company spokesman James Etheridge told Agence France Presse.