Openwave sues Apple and RIM

Not content with being left out of the patent lawsuit picture, it looks like Software maker, Openwave Systems has decided to bring out the guns by joining the suing party. Openwave, a company that’s behind a large number of mobile internet related products has filed a lawsuit with the International Trade Commision and a federal court in Delaware, pointing fingers at Apple and RIM for allegedly infringing of five of its mobile internet connection patents.
Openwave has requested for licensing fees to be paid by the two giant companies to settle the lawsuit if not it will seek to halt the import and sales of the accused devices. The accused devices are: the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch, iPad, and iPad 2 from Apple, and the BlackBerry Curve 9330 and BlackBerry PlayBook from RIM.The five patents, as listed by Openwave are:

• Patent that generally allows a user to use e-mail applications on a mobile device when the network is unavailable – such as when a user is on an airplane.
• Patent that generally allows the mobile device to operate seamlessly, and securely, with a server over a wireless network.
• Patent that generally allows access to updated versions of applications on mobile devices.
• Patent that generally allows consumers to experience an improved user experience in navigating through various pages of information without delay.
• Patent that enables data in the cloud to be accessed or shared by different devices such as mobile handsets or computers.

Apparently the lawsuit didn’t come out of nowhere either – Openwave mentioned in a statement that it had previously approached Apple and RIM to negotiate a license of its technology, but they “did not receive a substantive response.” It’s going to be interesting to see how this lawsuit turns out.