Klausner Strikes Again: Motorola, RIM Hit With Suits

Judah Klausner, who seems to have sued everyone in telecom – from Apple, AT&T and Google to Vonage, Cisco and Verizon – is at it again. On Monday, he filed patent infringement lawsuits against Motorola Inc. (MOT) and Research in Motion (RIMM).

Klausner is considered to be one of the inventors of the PDA; he also holds a visual voice mail patent and has swung that weight around mightily in recent years as device makers and software developers make voice mail more efficient as a visual application.

Now he’s accusing RIM, which just released the BlackBerry Bold 9700, and Motorola, which launched the CLIQ mobile phone in September, of violating his property.

Klausner’s company, Klausner Technologies Inc., filed the latest case in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, a venue known for getting patent cases to trial quickly. That fact has served plaintiffs such as Klausner well, because defendants often have little time to prepare. But now, as the court’s reputation for speed has become more widely known, the docket is growing backlogged, which means longer times to trial.

Google and Verizon, among others, have settled with Klausner. They probably figured it would cost less to pay him off than battle in court for months or years.