Apple has found itself at the center of another patent dispute after Motorola Mobility filed a new patent-infringement complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC). Motorola claims several of Apple's product features infringe on patents they own, which includes Cupertino's Siri voice recognition software.
The paperwork lists seven patents that claim multiple features such as location reminders, e-mail notifications, phone/video players and Siri are in breach of Motorola's intellectual property. The smartphone maker now owned by Google is seeking a sales ban on all US imports of Apple's iPhone, iPad and Mac computers.
"We would like to settle these patent matters, but Apple's unwillingness to work out a license leaves us little choice but to defend ourselves and our engineers' innovations," Motorola Mobility said.
This is the second time the Illinois-based firm has filed a case with the ITC. The first was filed in 2010 following the collapse of licensing talks with Apple. The ITC announced during a preliminary hearing in April that Apple was infringing on one patent relating to WiFi signaling, and is due to announce a final decision on August 24 that could potentially result in the sales ban of Apple's popular iPhone handset.
During the course of the two-year battle with Motorola, the iPhone maker has insisted that Motorola has been making unreasonable demands and argues that many smartphones running on Google's Android platform also copy several key patented features on their iPhone. The Cupertino-based firm also argues that federal district courts should be handling the dispute, as the ITC doesn't have the authority to award damages.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.