Apple is suing Motorola over a patent licensing agreement the company soon to be acquired by Google holds with Qualcomm. The suit stems from a legal battle between the two parties currently being mulled by a German court. Motorola is suing Apple for infringement of European Patent No. 1 010 336 (U.S. Patent No. 6,359,898), but Apple’s suit filed with a district court in California claims that a previous licensing agreement between Motorola and Qualcomm entitles the Cupertino-based company as a third-party beneficiary. Apple uses Qualcomm MDM6610 baseband chip in the CDMA version of the iPhone 4S and is arguing that it’s agreement with the chipmaker includes fees for utilizing the licensed patent.

Apple is seeking to have the German lawsuit thrown out, as it sees the legal action as a breach of contract between the parties. In the view of Apple’s legal department, Motorola has exhausted its rights to the patent in both the US and Europe. Suing a company over a patent that they have cross-licensed as part of an agreement with a third party seems like a pretty big oversight on Motorola’s part, but that’s why we aren’t the ones rendering final judgement.

[via Reuters, TheNextWeb]