IDG News Service - Motorola has filed two patent lawsuits and a patent complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that a wide range of Apple products infringe its patents.
The three complaints cover 18 Motorola patents, including communication technologies related to W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), general packet radio service (GPRS), 802.11 and antenna design, as well as smartphone technologies related to wireless e-mail, proximity sensing, application management and location-based services, Motorola said in a press release.
The patents cover technologies used in Apple's handheld iPhone, iPad and iTouch products, some Mac computers and services MobileMe and the App Store, Motorola said.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comments on the complaints.
In addition to the complaint filed with the ITC, Motorola has filed patent infringement lawsuits in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Southern District of Florida, the company said. Motorola's complaint with the ITC asks the agency to prohibit Apple from importing products that infringe the 18 patents.
"Motorola has innovated and patented throughout every cycle of the telecommunications industry evolution, from Motorola's invention of the cell phone to its development of premier smartphone products," Kirk Dailey, corporate vice president of intellectual property at subsidiary Motorola Mobility, said in a statement. "We have extensively licensed our industry-leading intellectual property portfolio, consisting of tens of thousands of patents in the U.S. and worldwide."
Motorola and Apple engaged in "lengthy negotiations" about Motorola's patents, but Apple refused to buy licenses, the company said.
Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.
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