Motorola files a complaint against RIM with the International Trade Commission

By on Jan 23, 2010 at 12:40 PM
News January 23, 2010

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It’s all lawsuits and complaints galore this year with Apple against Nokia, Nokia against Apple and now Motorola against Research In Motion. Apparently, according to Motorola, RIM is violating five Motorola patents which involve Wi-Fi access, application management, power management and UI. So, Motorola decided to file a complaint with the International Trade Commission, or ITC, in hopes to block the import of any and all devices that violate its patents. We’re guessing that means virtually all new devices. And if RIM decides to side-step the issue and continue delays, Motorola’s IP attorney says:

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. Motorola will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its R&D and intellectual property.

We’re guessing, or hoping, that some licensing deals can be worked out between the two companies so things can go on business as usual. But at this point, it’s kinda looking like “If you can’t beat them, block them” on Motorola’s end. What do you guys think? Tort reform!

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  • Dick Eiler

    Go Motorola!!!

    • NASA

      haha a little mistake with not putting this story on the homepage but putting it on twitter. Thats why this comment is at 9:43 AM but the publish date is 12:40 PM. BGR get your act togeather.

  • erphan

    motorola is a pathetic company that can’t stand it’s competition. how many of the execs use a bb?

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Los Angeles South Valley, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    • ron

      yea will then BB should not have an issue with paying for, instead of stealing, technology that isn’t theirs.

      BB moto if you can’t invent it, steal it.

  • http://pakistan.com giggig

    If you cant beat them, block them, the author of this post is a fl. I am not fond both companies the RIM and Motorola, RIM is zero and a failure out side the states, what can i say about about Motorola, nevertheless its criminal to use others patents with license so Motorola has right to protect there R&D and intellectual property like anyone else, and those who think its “if you cant beat them, just block ” they are fool, globally Motorola was a bigger seller then RIM in past, leave USA aside, cuz RIM can only sale a set in USA thats it, may be Motorola can regain its some market share back, but RIM has no intention to reach mass market in global markets. so i disagree big time with your opinion Sir! you need to keep your brain bit more working..

    • http://yahoo Dylan09

      i sorta agree

  • http://pakistan.com giggig

    Another thing for RIM, nokia’s s40 feature phone can almost do more things then what a RIM phone can do, almost, with about 8 times lesser price, leave s60 3rd edition phones aside, which are less then four times cheaper and they are capable of doing twice as many things then what a black berry can do. does any one knows what is market share of RIM smart phones in the world ? less then half of double figure i suppose.

    • ~phel

      Instead of “supposing” why don’t you do some research about RIMs global market share? You maybe surprised, especially since Nokia has been losing ground for quite sometime to Apple and RIM….

      • http://pakistan.com giggig

        somebody said long ago nokia losing ground and you believed it, nokia still hold 37% percent of global market share which means almost every 2 mobiles out of 5 sold are nokia and every 1 smart phone out of 2 sold in the world is nokia smart phone. this is a fact my dear :) now tell me the global market share :) of RIM please :)

      • ~phel

        I know you may need an explanation on market trends but here’s a link for you
        http://www.pmptoday.com/2009/11/13/apple-rim-posts-significant-growth-in-global-smartphone-market-share/

      • ~phel

        and btw never did I say Nokia wasn’t the leader in market share, I just stated a fact, that they are losing ground….

    • Patrick Moto Droid

      Get over your RIM bashing and poor use of the English language. I have a Moto and a Berry and yes, Nokia makes good phones, but you can’t find them in the US. Haven’t seen one in a while. Not sure what happened but they do seem to be disappearing.

      • DJ Megatron

        You can still find some Nokia smartphones here in the US. Not sure if you have a local Fry’s Electronics, but the one near me carries them unlocked. I think the reason they haven’t done so well here is that most people oustide of us tech-geeks knows that much about them. The problem they have is that aside from the E71x on AT&T they don’t have subsidized carriers here. Well they do, but they are more feature phones, i.e. the free/cheaper ones you can get on all four major carrier’s. But Blackberries are all over the place as well as Motorola’s, and not just in the US.

      • http://pakistan.com giggig

        if you dont buy it due to some reason it does not mean they disappearing, its simply that Nokia is not willing to give that many phones via contracts and discounts, they want to give phone on cash, where as in other part of the world contract system is not famous specially in Europe and Asia. that is one reason, any ways let Nokia lose or gain significant ground for the competition to increase and all companies may come with good devices. RIM and Apple has one dimensional phones only and hence you cant expect them to get significant world share, Apple can do well in USA and japan, but will struggle where people do multitasking or they text alot and RIM will struggle where people want non qwerty decent price cells. where is nokia got covered almost all aspects of phones, that is the difference in Nokia and other companies, from feature phones to low end smart phones to higher end smart phones, master of non touch smart phones, trying to gain market in touch screen as well.

  • http://www.lafayettecorealestate.org Adrian

    filing a compliant will not result in ending of the problem. moto must think in some other way.

  • James

    ITC won’t ban any of the four companies imports. It would hurt the economy if they did. These companies are just going to have to work out a deal.

  • kedmond

    People seem to be missing the point here. This has nothing to do with Motorola’s inability to compete with RIM. This has to do with RIM employing technology that Moto has a patent on in the USA. Litigation from Motorola isn’t sneaky maneuver against RIM due to their inability to compete. They invented a technology, and RIM is effectively using it without permission. What’s wrong with Motorola trying to stop them from doing this?

    • James

      That Motorola doesn’t know how to use the software they have a patent on correctly. I think patents are stupid anyway, if we didn’t have them, then we would have a lot better phones and computers.

      • Jay

        Patents are stupid? Patents protect people and companies from stealing others hard work and entrepreneurial fortitude. Just because one spends the time and money on a patent doesn’t mean it has to be deployed. Obviously if Moto created a proprietary product and spent the money doing R&D, then they must know how to incorporate it into their infrastructure. Get a clue James and remove your head from your 5th point of contact.

  • James Arsenault

    too many cellphone companies is at war over competitions in open markets that they cannot afford to lose. many politicans and execs are using bb and it is much unlikey bb will be banned in usa.

  • ljp

    Running to the ITC is an attempt to force a settlement but it will take over a year for the ITC to finish an investigation. RIM will just wait for a decision and then reach a settlement if they are found in violation.

    The talk of bans is largely an empty threat as the US government is RIM’s biggest Enterprise customer.

    It’s all noise from failing companies that can only cling to the technologies from a bygone era when they knew how to make a profit.

    • Danger

      Hey ljp, you know that car of yours that you worked so hard to pay for, trick out, and maintain. Right, thats exactly what I need to get to work and pay MY bills, so I am just going to go ahead and take it from you.

      Oh you’re calling cops? That’s just noise from a person who failed to invest in a car alarm. Quit your bitching.

      idiot.

  • http://yahoo Dylan09

    Motorola fighting back, love it! Got to if your ever gonna compete with the big dogs!

  • http://www.petfoodz.info/ PetFoodz.Info

    Patents should die..

  • whatitis

    If motorola is clinging to its “old “technology” then why can’t rim find or make something better so they don’t have to steal ideas…
    And without patents a lot of these companies wouldn’t invest in r&d because everyone else would take their ideas without having to pay for the r&d…and we would end up with poor technology
    I’m not a Motorola fan, I’m just saying…

    • ljp

      They aren’t “stealing” ideas. It’s a disagreement over valuation of the patents after a cross-licensing deal expired in 2003. Patents are important but so is a reasonable royalty structure in regards to technology that has been expanded upon.

      Why does this ITC complaint not involve the patents that are being disputed in federal court? Why can’t Motorola state which handsets are in violation? It’s just a tactic to pressure RIM into a settlement for the previous licensing deal.

  • LifeTrek

    I am confused, why would the author of this post hope a licensing agreement could be reached while at the same time questioning/calling for whether tort reform could help? Why would the author bemoan Motorola’s attempt to protect their patents by accusing them of blocking them when it is their legal right and their legal responsibility to their shareholders?

    The factual part of this post is great, but the opinion part makes no sense at all. If you don’t like Moto, don’t buy one — but don’t bemoan them for protecting what is theirs.

    Strange neither the Apple nor the Nokia posts on their complaints to the ITC bad mouthed those companies for doing exactly what Motorola did.
    David

    • Mrwirez

      Agreed…BGR posts one third rumor, one third fact, and one third OPINION.

  • patent troll

    Nokia realizes it doesnt have a competitive product – turns to litigation
    Motorola pins its hopes on Android, Google screws them, turns to litigation.

    RIM and Apple just keep making good products – no need to waste time with lawsuits.

  • Numus

    Explain how RIM is in the wrong with Moto when moto enters into an agreement with google that seems almost illegaly.. They market the Android 2.0 OS as “developmental” when it is really in development for motorola.. and do not release the open source product (which they are required to by the GNU GPL) until a week before the droid hits the selves.. so basically they closed source the OS so no other competition could develop it into their devices until they were ready to release they product.. If that isnt a side step of the GNU GPL, then RIM using obscure patents that moto probably had no intention of ever using and just patented to stop copoenent should be perfectly legal..

    Patents should expire if no technology utilizes them within a timely fashion IMHO… and the company who originally filed should be blocked from refiling

  • Eric

    I don’t know about you guys, but is there any process in the world that is not patented already? Should I be paying the person who patented walking to the restroom to use the toilet? RIM has had phones for years and now this is an issue? They have even had WiFi phones for a number of years.

    I am weary of all of the lawsuits.

  • Mrwirez

    No tort reform… follow patent laws. ALL these companies rip each other off. It is time to uphold intellectual property owners.

    The people that cry tort reform are the first ones to sue when the doctor cuts off the wrong foot…

  • http://tbottle.com Jon

    Patent infringement is NOT a tort. Drop the punchline.

  • alexander card

    Dignified companies should handle these things behind closed doors in a court of law – this amounts to little more than slander.

    I’ve already switched from apple products for many reasons including these and the droid won’t be getting replaced with another motorola product if this crap continues.

  • Bill Callahan

    There are good patents and bad patents. A good one is when there is genuine innovation; a bad one is when someone patents something that is obvious or which is already in use in the industry. The patent office has a very bad history in recent years of granting patents that should not have been granted simply because they can’t keep up with what’s going on in the industry. I don’t know into which category the Motorola patents fall.

  • mark

    this is business as usual- not even a lawyer could comment without knowing the details , how could we? Competiton is quite hard and nothing for beginners or customers

  • bubba

    im going to start a band.. patent our style of music as “rock music”… then im going to sue every band that plays rock and makes a lot of money and say they are infringing on my patent…lol.

    the really funny thing is, im not 100 percent sure you CANT do this hehe.

    in any case…. call me crazy but a patent that is beneficial to many companies that would/could use the technology should be able to be used by all for a licensing fee right? i mean i fully understand and agree that the first company that patented it should def get theres.. especial when its something like multitouch, or something that EVERYONE wants in their mobile devise. what ticks me off is when the company that invented it just wont let you use the tech at all, which to me is illigal because they are FORCING you to use their product and are disallowing other companies to fairly compete…isnt that a monopoly?…and illegal?

  • br14

    This all started a long time ago when RIM sued Motorola for patent violation.

    Motorola then counter sued for violations of it’s patents.

    The US needs to get it’s patent law sorted out to prevent this kind of crazy legislative roulette.

  • Enzo1

    hey stupidass found you

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