Apple, RIM sued by software maker Openwave over patents

Openwave Systems has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Apple and Research In Motion with a Delaware federal court and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Openwave believes products from both firms infringe on five patents related to how “mobile devices connect to the internet,” Bloomberg reports. The iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Curve were all named in the suit. Openwave said it filed the lawsuits after it did not “receive a substantive response” when it offered both firms the option to license its technology. It hopes the threat of having the ITC block imports of the products “will lead the companies to negotiate licensing agreements.” “Openwave invented technologies that became foundational to the mobile Internet,” Openwave CEO Ken Denman said. “We believe that these large companies should pay us for the use of our technologies, particularly in light of the substantial revenue these companies have earned from devices that use our intellectual property.”

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