On Friday, Google’s Motorola Mobility unit filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington. So far, Motorola has only confirmed that this lawsuit has indeed been filed. The details of the lawsuit remain elusive, as the actual documents won’t be available on the ITC’s website until Monday and Motorola hasn’t released any concrete information about its allegations, yet. We have now learned, however, that the lawsuit, which seeks to ban imports of Apple’s hardware into the U.S., accuses Apple of infringing on seven of Motorola’s patents.
These patents involve location reminders, email notifications, video playback and Siri, the flagship feature of Apple’s current iOS lineup. According to this information, Motorola’s lawsuit argues that virtually every single hardware product Apple currently sells in the U.S. (with the exception of the classic iPod and iPod nano) infringes upon these seven patents. Sadly, that’s the extend of the information we have so far, but we will update this post once we learn more or once the full text of the lawsuit is available online on Monday.
When Google bought Motorola, it also acquired the company’s 17,000 patents (and 7,000 pending ones). At the time, many pundits assumed that one of the reasons for the acquisition was this trove of patents. Google itself, by virtue of being a relatively young company, does not have enough patents to defend its Android OS and other mobile projects from potential lawsuits by more established players in today’s litigious environment. Now, as the patent wars continue to escalate, it looks as if the company is ready to use Motorola and its patents to go on the offensive.
- MOTOROLA MOBILITY
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to mobile and wireline digital communication devices that provide compelling experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009
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