NTP Inc, a company that has been labeled a “patent troll,” has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Apple, HTC, and LG.
The lawsuits were filed yesterday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. NTP claims that all of the manufacturers in question are infringing on its patents that deal with sending and receiving e-mail “over wireless communications systems.”
In 2000, NTP filed a similar lawsuit against Research in Motion in a case that went all the way to the steps of the Supreme Court, though the highest court did not agree to hear the case. After a more-than-five-year legal battle, NTP won and collected $612.5 million from RIM.
Since then, it looks like NTP has been trying to find ways to go after other mobile phone giants, and yesterday’s filing is the culmination of that.
NTP alleges that between the sued companies, eight of its patents are being compromised.
