BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion, could be forced to halt sales of the popular smartphone in the US if Motorola is successful in a patent claim it filed on Friday.

The company, who is currently on a high with handsets like the Motorola Droid, Milestone, Dext, Cliq and Backflip, has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) claiming that Canadian firm RIM is infringing five of Motorola's patents.

According to Motorola, the five patents "relate to certain early-stage innovations developed by Motorola in key technology areas, such as Wi-Fi access, application management, user interface and power management, that are now being used by RIM".

What are Motorola after? The complete halt of BlackBerrys coming into the US, their sale in the United States, and a complete blackout of all marketing, advertising, demonstration and warehousing of inventory.

"In light of RIM's continued unlicensed use of Motorola's patents, RIM's use of delay tactics in our current patent litigation, and RIM's refusal to design out Motorola's proprietary technology, Motorola had no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM's continued infringement. Motorola will continue to take all necessary steps to protect its R&D and intellectual property, which are critical to the company's business", said Jonathan Meyer, senior vice president of intellectual property law at Motorola. 

We are awaiting comment from RIM. 

We will keep you posted.

UPDATE: A UK high court judge has found thatBlackBerry maker RIM does not infringe on a Motorola patent it seems reports the Calgary Herald.