TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. today announced that it had filed suit against Research in Motion for patent infringement regarding U.S. Patent 6,871,215.

"TCS asserts infringement by RIM's products and services that allow a wireless user to access and manage multiple email accounts," according to a company statement. "The company initiated litigation to protect its rights only after business discussions with RIM failed to resolve the dispute. TCS has retained the law firm of Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro, a Chicago-based law firm that specializes in intellectual property trials, to litigate the case."

"The filing from TCS mirrors a similar lawsuit that RIM faced against NTP Inc., a tiny patent holding firm based in Virginia," notes FP Posted's David George-Cosh . "After a four-year court battle after a jury found that technology inside RIM's BlackBerry devices infringed on several of NTP's patents related to mobile e-mail communications, the company had to pay a one-time payment of $612.5 million."

More here from Reuters ... more here from the AP ... and the press release is here.