Apple has filed infringement suits against Motorola, saying that its multi-touch smartphones use Apple-owned intellectual property.
Patently Apple was the first to report that Apple filed two separate suits against Motorola that touch on six different patents. The suits mostly pertain to Motorola's smartphones, specifically the Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq, Cliq XT, BakFlip Devour A555, Devour i1, and Charm.
"We like competition as long as they don't rip off our IP," Tim Cook, chief operations officer for Apple said last year at a financial conference. "Obviously Apple thinks that Motorola has crossed that line."
Court documents said Apple has a problem with "smartphones and associated software, including operating systems, user interfaces, and other application software designed for use on, and loaded onto such devices."
The suit comes several weeks after Motorola filed its own suit against Apple over 18 different patents that cover Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and certain Mac computers. Apple also sued HTC in March, alleging 20 instances of patent infringement dealing with various elements of the iPhone. Microsoft, meanwhile, has sued Motorola, alleging patent infringement on its Android-based devices.
Apple is seeking maximum damages including all royalties earned from the sale of the phones.
During the third quarter, Apple iPhone sales increased by 91 percent compared to a year ago to 14.1 million units, with an average selling price of about $600. Apple recently jumped into the list of top five global mobile phone vendors, leapfrogging RIM for the number four position.
When the iPhone 4 was launched in China, the device flew off the shelves, almost immediately. Due to problems with scalpers, the flagship store in Beijing was forced to shut down briefly.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:30pm Eastern time.