14 DAY TRIAL // Openwave Systems Inc. has filed a complaint against Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. claiming that legal action was the only way to protect its intellectual property used by iOS devices without a license to connect to the Internet. Blackberry smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM) is also sued under the same patent infringement claims.
Filed with the International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, DC, the complaint asks of the U.S. regulator to ban the import of smartphones and tablet computers that infringe Openwave patents.
As far as Apple is concerned, these include the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch, iPad and iPad 2.
Looking at RIM, Openwave has eyed the Blackberry Curve 9330 and the Blackberry PlayBook.
A similar complaint has been filed by Openwave in a federal district court in Delaware.
Commenting on their action, Ken Denman, Chief Executive Officer of Openwave, said, “Openwave invented technologies that became foundational to the mobile Internet."
"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.”
Denman upholds that his company contacted Apple and RIM prior to taking legal action, saying, “Before filing these complaints, we approached both of these companies numerous times in an attempt to negotiate a license of our technology with them and did not receive a substantive response.”
Apple and RIM, however, refused to negotiate any licensing deal, the CEO claimed.
“In the end, litigation is the only way we can defend our rights against these large companies that have effectively refused to license the use of the technologies we invented, are using today, and are continuing to develop for our customers,” Mr. Denman said.
“We are proud that our technology is helping deliver such a rich mobile internet experience to consumers around the world,” added Denman.
Apple and RIM allegedly infringe upon five Openwave patents at the moment, all of which cover technology that gives consumers access to the Internet from their mobile devices.
Denman anticipates a favorable judgment from the ITC that will eventually lead the companies to negotiate licensing agreements with Openwave.