Intercarrier Communications filed a lawsuit against Apple over claims that Messages and FaceTime infringe on a patent it owns. The patent covers messaging services via phones, and ICC is targeting other companies with similar infringement lawsuits, too.
Along with Apple, MobiWeb, Inerop Technologies, BroadSoft, and Iris Wireless have all been hit with lawsuits for allegedly infringing on ICC's patent in the past few days, according to Patently Apple.
The patent in question, 6,985,748, was granted in January 2006 and describes a system where messages are routed across different carrier networks based on phone numbers.
Messages is Apple's Mac, iPhone and iPad app for text and photo messaging. FaceTime is the company's video chat app that's limited to WiFi connections for most users.
Texas-based ICC filed its lawsuit against Apple in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The company appears to be just a patent holder using its portfolio as a single source of revenue.
Apple has not commented on the lawsuit.