Apple Sues Back At Motorola Over Qualcomm License Agreement [Report]

As Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility waits for approval from the courts, Apple has fired back at Motorola in the U.S. over a licensing agreement with chipset-maker Qualcomm.

Motorola recently sued Apple over wireless technology in its iOS devices with a patent that Apple is now using to cite the licensing violation with Qualcomm. The retaliation from Apple is meant to suffocate any patent violation claims that Motorola was asserting before to the courts.

The iPhone 4S was briefly banned in Germany last month following a suit from Motorola, and Apple is now arguing that its agreement with Qualcomm covers any alleged patent infringement that Motorola may have proposed to the courts.

Reuters explains:

Apple says that as a Qualcomm customer, Apple is a third-party beneficiary of Motorola’s agreement with Qualcomm. Under that agreement, Motorola’s rights under certain patents are exhausted, Apple argues.

According to Apple, Motorola doesn’t have a right to call foul on the wireless technology patents used in Qualcomm chip-equipped iOS devices.

And so it goes.

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