On Wednesday, Motorola Inc. announced that they have filed three complaints against Apple over alleged patent infringements in their popular wireless and mobile devices. These complaints were filed with the International Trade Commission as well as in the Northern District of Illinois and the Southern District of Florida. The complaints allege that Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and some of their computers infringe on Motorola's patents in the areas of antenna design and other smartphone technologies. In the complaint, Motorola alleges that Apple has infringed on 18 patents. Motorola Inc. has asked the trade commission to issue an order that would prevent Apple from importing, selling, marketing, or warehousing the alleged products until this whole situation is resolved.
This complaint now adds to the many patent complaints that have been filed this year.
Just recently, Microsoft filed a lawsuit against Motorola, saying that they had infringed on nine patents that were used in Android-based devices. Microsoft states that Motorola violated patents on essential smartphone functions.
In March, Apple filed a lawsuit against HTC, the Taiwanese maker of smartphones, for allegedly infringing 20 Apple patents. In August, Oracle sued Google for software patent violations in Google's Android mobile operating system.
This complaint adds to the list of ongoing complaints and lawsuits major smartphone and cell phone companies have been filing on each other. As the popularity of smartphones is increasing, so is the competition. Companies are looking for methods to improve their own products and to market their products as effectively as they can. In this situation, it seems that the court and the legal system will be quite busy in handling these complaints and lawsuits that major companies have placed on each other.
