Top mobile phone maker Nokia said on Tuesday it filed suits in Britain and the United States last week alleging a number of leading technology firms operate cartels for mobile phone and monitor displays.

Nokia said the suits followed government investigations in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, and other civil suits already filed in the U.S. A spokesman declined to say how much the firm was seeking in damages.

Nokia's focus is on the cartels involving liquid crystal displays (LCD) and cathode ray tubes (CRT) - the latter having been purchased by Nokia's former Nokia Display Products business, Nokia said, referring to a unit since divested.

Nokia said companies named in the suits included AU Optronics, Hitachi, LG, Philips, Samsung, Seiko Epson, Sharp and Toshiba.

Spokesmen for Samsung Electronics and LG had no comment on the suits. A spokeswoman at AU Optronics said the firm could not comment as it has not received any official notification, while spokesmen at Seiko Epson and Sharp also declined comment.

Nokia shares were 2.51 percent higher at 8.99 euros ($13.52) at 1032 GMT, and Philips shares were 2.8 percent in the black at 18.72 euros, keeping pace with a firmer DJ Stoxx Technology Index.

(Reporting by Brett Young in Helsinki, Rhee So-eui in Seoul, Baker Li in Taipei and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo) ; Editing by Dan Lalor and Sharon Lindores)

($1=.6650 Euro)

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