WiLAN, which receives its revenue from licensing patents to vendors, has targeted RIM over Bluetooth technology used in its mobile devices. The company confirmed that it filed a patent infringement claim against RIM in the Southern District of Florida. It stated that the Blackberry maker is violating Patent No. 6,260,168 relating to Bluetooth technologies.
WiLAN alleges that the BlackBerry creator's violations applies to a number of products, including the BlackBerry Bold and Torch, as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Last year, WiLAN carried out several lawsuits against Apple, HP, Dell, among others over alleged violation of patents pertaining to CDMA, HSPA, Wi-Fi and LTE.
Founded in 1992, WiLAN describes itself as a "leading technology innovation and licensing company." It licenses its intellectual property to over 260 companies that offer "3G and 4G handsets, Wi-Fi enabled laptops," as well as "Wi-Fi and broadband routers." Ultimately, WiLAN has over 3,000 issued or pending patents.
RIM was recently ordered to agree a royalty deal with Nokia over the use of WiFi-related patents, with the former prevented from lodging an appeal.