It is the season of handset manufacturers trading charges against each other and Motorola followed others in this trend as it filed a complaint against Research in Motion (RIM) accusing it of illegally using Motorola’s technology even after expiry of licence period.

The issues relates to a proprietary wireless technology owned by Motorola pertaining to Wi-Fi access, user interface and power management. Motorola says that RIM’s licence to use this technology expired in 2007. The two parties have till now failed to come to a consensus on this but RIM is still using the technology, alleges Motorola.

The company has now filed a case with the U.S. International Trade Commission. This is in addition to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Texas.

“The ITC represents the best way to stop RIM from using the technology. The disagreement stems from a difference of opinion on the valuation of the patents, says Jonathan Meyer, lead attorney for Motorola.

Following Broadcom Corp.'s ITC complaint against Qualcomm Inc. in 2005, which resulted in a settlement between the bitter rivals, more companies have decided take a similar tack. Recently, Nokia Corp. filed a complaint against Apple Inc. in their growing spat. Earlier Friday, the ITC ruled that Nvidia Corp. infringed on three Rambus Inc. patents.

Motorola is seeking an injunction banning RIM products in USA.

The development follows Broadcom Corp approaching Qualcomm in 2005 and as recently as last year when Nokia accused Apple of patent violation.