January 9, 2013 - Steelhead Licensing LLC, a company that owns a patent related to 3G and 4G technology, filed a patent suit against 13 companies that either manufacture mobile phones or provide wireless service. Besides AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Research in Motion (RIM), the other defendants named in the lawsuit are MetroPCS, Motorola, HTC, Kyocera, LG Electronics, Sony, ZTE, NEC Casio Mobile, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA.
Steelhead has accused the defendants of infringing its 3G and 4G patent on technology for switching cells in a mobile network. The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Delaware.