Google-owned Motorola Mobility has launched a second wave of lawsuits at Apple, alleging that the Cupertino consumer electronics giant has infringed on several of its mobile industry patents. The lawsuits were filed with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), and Motorola Mobility is seeking to ban the sale of infringing Apple products in the United States.
The move comes as a federal jury in California is deliberating in a similar case involving Apple and Android licensee Samsung. (Google makes Android, the mobile OS behind Motorola Mobility’s mobile products as well.)
“We would like to settle these patent matters, but Apple’s unwillingness to work out a license leaves us little choice but to defend ourselves and our engineers’ innovations,” a Motorola Mobility statement reads.
Motorola Mobility alleges that Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh computers infringe on several of its patents. The Siri voice-control software used on the iPhone is one of the infringing technologies that Apple provides to its own customers, Motorola claims. Also among the patents it says Apple is infringing are patents for location reminders, email notifications, and “phone/video players.”
This new complaint follows a separate 2010 suit in which Motorola Mobility accused Apple of infringing on 18 of its mobile industry patents, including those related to 3G, general packet radio service (GPRS), and 802.11 wireless technologies, as well as antenna design. At the time, the firm—which wasn't yet owned by Google—said that it had tried to convince Apple to license these technologies unsuccessfully. This week’s complaint uses similar language.
As with the previous suit, Motorola is asking the ITC to ban the import of Apple’s products—which are all made in China—into the United States, which would prevent Apple from selling them in its biggest and home market.
