Motorola vs. RIM: patent war begins

Motorola and Research In Motion exchanged three lawsuits over the weekend regarding a series of cross-licensing deals that never came to fruition. RIM filed a suit in Texas that claims Motorola is infringing on its patents and "is demanding exorbitant royalties." Meanwhile, Motorola filed two similar lawsuits: one in Texas and another in Delaware, which charge RIM with infringing its patents while challenging the validity of some of RIM's IP. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the patent dispute can trace its roots to a botched renewal of terms for a 2003 licensing pact.

In the fall of 2006 Motorola acquired push email software company Good Technology, which certainly heightened tensions between Motorola and RIM.

For more on the patent war:
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)