Motorola files patent suit against Research In Motion

Motorola Inc., the manufacturer of wireless communications and electronic systems has filed a suit with the International Trade Commission (ITC) accusing Research In Motion (RIM), the manufacturer of the popular Blackberry smartphones, of infringing on its patents.

Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola said yesterday that it has filed a suit against the Ontario, Canada-based RIM for engaging in unfair trade practices by importing and selling RIM products that infringe on five of Motorola's patents.

Motorola claims that the five patents listed in the complaint relate to certain early-stage innovations developed by Motorola in key technology areas, such as Wi-Fi access, application management, user interface and power management, that are now being used by RIM.

Motorola, which had 2008 sales of $30.1 billion, has been involved in a long-running patent battle with RIM, said that these patented technologies are important to it as they allow for more comprehensive connectivity, a better user experience and lower product costs.

The Droid smartphone handset maker wants ITC to slap a ban on all Blackberry devices in the US, and has requested the commission to start an investigation into RIM's use of Motorola's patents and, among other things, issue an 'exclusion order' barring RIM's importation of infringing products; prohibiting further sales of infringing products that have already been imported; and halting the marketing, advertising, demonstration and warehousing of inventory for distribution and use of such imported products in the US.

Jonathan Meyer, senior vice president of intellectual property law at Motorola, said, ''Through its early-stage development of the cellular industry and billions of dollars spent on research and development, Motorola has created an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio that is respected by the entire telecommunications industry.''

''In light of RIM's continued unlicensed use of Motorola's patents, RIM's use of delay tactics in our current patent litigation, and RIM's refusal to design out Motorola's proprietary technology, Motorola had no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM's continued infringement. Motorola will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its R&D and intellectual property, which are critical to the Company's business,'' he added.