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Another Cellphone Patent Dispute Erupts

Schaumburg, Ill. – Motorola filed a patent-infringement complaint
against Research In Motion (RIM) before the U.S. International Trade Commission
(ITC), asking the ITC to ban the importation of RIM’s BlackBerry phones because
they infringe on five Motorola’s patents.

The filing follows a late-December

patent-infringement
complaint

lodged by Nokia against Apple before the ITC. In the filing,
announced Dec. 29, Nokia alleged the infringement of seven Nokia patents “in virtually
all of their electronics devices (mobile phones, portable music players and
computers),” a spokeswoman told TWICE. Nokia is seeking a ban on the importation of the Apple devices. The
disputed patents
relate to key features in user interfaces as well as camera, antenna and power-management
technologies. The ITC has up to 30 days from the Nokia filing to determine if
an investigation is warranted.

In Motorola’s case, the five
disputed patents 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,” the company said. “These patented
technologies are important to Motorola as they allow for more comprehensive
connectivity, a better user experience and lower product costs,” Motorola
continued.

Not only does Motorola want the
ITC to ban the importation of infringing products; it also wants to prohibit sales
of infringing products that have already been imported and halt the marketing,
advertising, demonstration and warehousing of inventory for distribution and
use, the company said.

“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,” contended Jonathan Meyer, Motorola’s intellectual
property law senior VP. “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.”

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