Apple sues Motorola over smartphone patents

Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin yesterday saying Motorola Inc.'s smartphones infringe the iPhone maker's intellectual property.

The nine-page complaint lists three Apple patents it says Motorola is violating with its phones and the software applications controlling those devices. The devices targeted in the complaint include Droid, Devour i1, Charm, Backflip and Cliq.

On Oct. 11, a Motorola unit sued Apple in Wilmington, Delaware, asking a court to rule it doesn't infringe 12 Apple patents for mobile-telephone technology, and that the patents aren't valid. That suit is one in a series between the companies.

The case is Apple Inc. v Motorola Inc., 10-CV-662, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.