[NewsPoster]

Motorola Mobility announced today that it had filed a new patent infringement suit against Apple at the US International Trade Commission. The suit, as Bloomberg details, alleges that Apple's Siri digital assistant feature, among other features, violates Motorola Mobility patents. The company, purchased by Google in May of this year, is seeking a ban on US imports of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers, essentially Apple's entire product line.

Reportedly none of the patents involved in the newest claim are standards-essential; that is, none of them are so widely used in industry as to be subject to FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) guidelines. Instead, Motorola's suit claims infringement of seven patents the company holds on location reminders, email notification, and phone/video players. Motorola representatives claim that they have been trying to resolve the dispute with Apple without resorting to litigation but have been stymied by "Apple's unwillingness to work out a license." Apple and Motorola have existing counter-claims in the USITC. Apple has said that Motorola Mobility is making unreasonable demands, and any licensing fees Motorola demand for their standards-essential patents in the initial complaint aren't fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND). Motorola is asking for a USITC import ban as a result of the infringement. No hearing dates have been scheduled, and the complaint isn't publicly available. This new filing marks a new phase in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Motorola, which is itself part of a larger struggle between Apple and the assorted makers of smartphones running Google's Android operating system. Apple contends that Android is based on stolen intellectual property, and the company appears dedicated to pushing Android out of the market or at least extracting significant penalties from Android phone manufacturers. Meanwhile, Apple has suffered some setbacks in the patent sphere. In April, the International Trade Commission ruled that the iPhone maker had infringed on one of four patents Motorola had leveled, covering a Wi-Fi implementation method.

[cvbcvb]

Time for Apple to go thermonuclear...

[Geoduck]

So much for Google's promise to only use the patents defensively.
But then they also promised to not be evil too.

[CharlesS]

What did you expect after being continually bombarded with patent lawsuits for the last several years? Apple's hardly been innocent of this.

If I were Google, I'd probably have eventually snapped too.

[glideslope]

If the trial go Samsung's way Apple will be in a bind big time. IMO, this is not going to happen. Samsung has as much as admitted to everything. Apple wins, Moto never goes to trial. Apple goes Thermonuclear on Google. They both settle without a trial. Most of the litigation ends. That's it. Seriously.

[BLAZE_MkIV]

Apple wont go after google. They'll go after the handset makers. Google doesn't profit directly so there wouldn't be a big award.

[crewdie]

Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword..........................................:lo l:

[Kludge]

It's about time someone gave Apple some of their own medicine. Apple is the biggest "thief" around. They didn't invent a lot of the things they improved but they want to stop others from using the same things they copied from others.

[lamewing]

Originally Posted by Geoduck 

So much for Google's promise to only use the patents defensively.
But then they also promised to not be evil too.

It isn't like Google has a choice with Apple litigating all over the globe. People support Apple for defending its patents....Google must do the same.

[superduperman]

My lawyer says "never sue anyone that has more money than you"...

With Motorola owned by Google, these titans will probably waste a lot of money on lawyers before things are settled.

[cgc]

I'm really tired of all the lawsuits going on in the mobile (e.g. phone and tablet) market. <Beep> all of them.

[CharlesS]

I think everybody is.

[Inkling]

Are Motorola/Google's lawyer idiots or just jerks? If Siri is the issue, all they need is a court order shutting the cloud software it runs on down. One phone call from Apple headquarters to their server farms, and it'd be down in a matter of minutes.

I'm getting more than a little disgusted with all this suing. Were I a judge, I'd toss out all their patents and trade dress claims and tell them to compete solely on the quality and price of their products.

[Foe Hammer]

My how things have changed. I used to admire Motorola and it's products. Now they've turned into Mototrolla.