Motorola has been sued for patent infringement by Intellectual Ventures, the Bellevue-based company run by former Microsoft technology chief Nathan Myhrvold — marking the latest in a series of intellectual property disputes in the booming mobile industry.
The suit, filed today in federal court in Delaware, cites six patents and says Intellectual Ventures has been trying to reach a licensing deal with Motorola since the beginning of this year. The company released this statement from its chief litigation counsel Melissa Finocchio:
“Intellectual Ventures has successfully signed licensing agreements with many of the top handset manufacturers in the world, and has been in discussions with Motorola Mobility for some time. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach agreement on a license. We have a responsibility to our current customers and our investors to defend our intellectual property rights against companies such as Motorola Mobility who use them without a license. Our goal continues to be to provide companies with access to our portfolio through licensing and sales, but we will not tolerate ongoing infringement of our patents to the detriment of our current customers and our business.”
Motorola, which is separately involved in patent disputes with Microsoft and Apple, is in the process of being acquired by Google for $12.5 billion, with the search giant aiming in part to gain access to Motorola’s patent portfolio.
Intellectual Ventures has announced a series of licensing deals over the past year and has filed suit against companies including Symantec, Trend Micro, Dell and HP.
