Motorola Mobility is suing Apple for infringing on six of its patents. The patents in question are related to wireless antennas, software, messaging, and data management — quite a bit of the entire experience of a smartphone is on the line here. Apple allegedly uses these patents in the iPhone 4S and iCloud.
The lawsuit was filed in Florida today and it’s just the latest battle in the larger smartphone patent wars.
“Apple’s infringing activities have caused and will continue to cause Motorola Mobility irreparable harm, for which it has no adequate remedy at law, unless Apple’s infringing activities are enjoined by this Court,” Motorola said as part of the case. The company wants compensation for damages and an injunction of both Apple products.
It’s probably no coincidence that this filing is taking place right before the EU decides whether to approve Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility. After all, one of the main reasons for the deal was so Google could help defend Android in patent wars against competitors. Acquiring Motorola gives Google access to its library of over 17,000 patents.
In December, Motorola won a 3G patent war against Apple in Germany. It just goes to show that while Apple might be able to slap Samsung around a few times, Motorola Mobility (soon to be combined with Google’s forces) is armed and ready for battle.