The United States will probe whether to ban imports of Research In Motion Limited's BlackBerry smartphones based on a patent-infringement complaint filed by Motorola Inc. The U.S. International Trade Commission will look into claims that Research In Motion's products infringe five patents, according to a notice on the ITC's Web site. Motorola filed the complaint with the agency on Jan. 22, targeting the Pearl, Curve, Bold, Storm and Tour smartphones, as well as their battery packs. The ITC case is just one legal dispute between Motorola, the largest U.S. mobile-phone maker, and RIM, maker of the top-selling smartphone in the United States. The companies had a license agreement in place from 2003 to 2007 and have been suing each other over patents since then after they were unable to reach terms on a new agreement. In February, a judge in London ruled that RIM didn't infringe a U.K. patent owned by Motorola. Complaints also are pending in federal court in Texas. The ITC is a government agency whose job is to investigate allegations of unfair trade practices, such as patent infringement. If a violation is found, it can order U.S. customs officials to prevent the products from entering the country. Unlike a civil court, the ITC doesn't have the power to order RIM to pay royalties. The patents in the ITC case relate to some early-stage innovations developed by Motorola in key areas such as Wi-Fi access, application management, user interface and power management, Motorola said in a Jan. 22 statement. The technology allows better connectivity at a lower cost, the company claims.

At the request of Eastman Kodak, the U.S. International Trade Commission has opened an investigation of Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Limited to determine whether they should be barred from importing smartphones that infringe on Kodak patents. Kodak's complaint against the two companies accuses them of infringing on patents related to digital imaging technologies in cameras built into the Apple iPhone and RIM BlackBerry. If it agrees with Kodak, the USITC could stop importation of the products into the United States. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and cease and desist orders. Apple and RIM did not respond to a request for comment in time for this writing. Kodak filed the complaint with the USITC on Jan. 14, the same day it filed separate federal lawsuits against Apple and RIM. Kodak said it filed the suits after negotiations failed in reaching an agreement. Kodak is seeking compensation for its technologies.

Research In Motion Limited announced a version of its Enterprise Server aimed at cost-conscious businesses. Wireless solutions specialist and BlackBerry creator Research In Motion (RIM) introduced BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, free server software that wirelessly and securely synchronizes BlackBerry smartphones with Microsoft Exchange or Windows Small Business Server. RIM said Enterprise Server Express software will be provided free of charge in order to address two key market opportunities. First, the company argues free software offers economical advantages to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that desire the security and manageability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server but don't require all of its advanced features. Second, the free software provides a cost-effective solution that enables IT departments to meet the growing demand from employees to be able to connect their personal BlackBerry smartphones to their work email. Enterprise Server Express works with Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2007 and 2003 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 and 2003 to provide users with secure, push-based, wireless access to email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks, as well as other business applications and enterprise systems behind the firewall. RIM noted the new server software utilizes the same security architecture found in BlackBerry Enterprise Server.