Thursday, October 6, 2011

Intellectual Ventures Sues Motorola Mobility

Seattle-based Intellectual Ventures, the patent storehouse headed by Nathan Myhrvold, said Thursday that it has filed a patent infringement complaint against Motorola Mobility. According to IV, the lawsuit comes after the company filed to reach a licensing deal with Motorola, after it had been in discussions with Motorola Mobility "for some time." In the complaint, Intellectual Ventures outlined a number of patents it says Motorola Mobility infringes upon, and said it seeks damages, attorney's fees, a permanent enjoining of future patent infringement, and a jury trial. The lawsuit against Motorola Mobility means that Intellectual Ventures may be going up against Google--which just announced in August that it would acquire Motorola Mobility in a $12.5B deal. That deal is still in progress. Another local firm--Microsoft--already has an ongoing patent battle going on with Motorola over wireless patents.