Nokia, the world's top cellphone maker by volume, has filed 13 new patent infringement suits in Europe against U.S. rival Apple, accusing it of using Nokia technology in its iPhones and iPads.

The fresh complaints in Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are part of an escalating battle between the two rivals in the smartphone arena that started more than a year ago when Nokia filed its first suits in the United States.

Apple has also sued Nokia over patents. The two have repeatedly denied each other's claims.

These actions add 13 further Nokia patents to the 24 already asserted against Apple in the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Delaware and Wisconsin Federal courts, Paul Melin, Nokia Vice President for Intellectual Property, said in a statement.

The new filings accuse Apple of breaching Nokia's patents related to several technologies, including the touch user interface, on-device app stores signal noise suppression and modular structure, Nokia said.

(Reporting by Chris Borowski; Editing by Will Waterman)

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