Shortly after banning the popular Kik Messenger application from its mobile software store, Research In Motion has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the developers of the app.

Kik Messenger is a free instant chat program that was available on BlackBerry devices for two weeks, during which time it amassed mroe than a million users. Kik provided many of the same features as RIM’s in-house BlackBerry Messenger software, and was quickly made available on iPhone and Android devices as well.

“RIM became aware of a number of issues and customer concerns regarding the Kik app and service. Following discussions with Kik, the app was removed from BlackBerry App World on November 12,” the BlackBerry manufacturer said in a statement. “Upon further investigation, RIM concluded that Kik had breached contractual obligations. Based on the broad scope and seriousness of the issues and concerns, RIM terminated its agreements with Kik and withdrew RIM’s support for Kik’s service.”

Kik CEO, Ted Livingston, who previously worked for RIM as a systems engineer and technical product co-ordinator, acknowledged that his program was similar to BlackBerry Messenger, but said he hoped it wasn’t banned for competitive reasons. He declined to comment on the patent infringement lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday in the Federal Court of Canada.

Ottawa-based intellectual property licensing company, Wi-Lan Inc., has filed a lawsuit against U.S. cable giants, Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter Communications, alleging patent infringement.

Wi-Lan says the three cable companies violate its patents in the way they advertise, sell, and operate their cable modem products.

Wi-Lan holds a portfolio of over 970 technology-related patents, which it licenses to some 230 other companies. It has involved itself in high-profile litigation in the past, including cases against smartphone manufacturers such as Research In Motion and Motorola.

Canada’s Competition Bureau is recommending a multi-million-dollar fine against Rogers Wireless, alleging that the cell phone giant has misled consumers in advertisements for its new discount wireless brand, Chatr.

After a two-month investigation, the Competition Bureau has concluded that there is no evidence to support Rogers’ claim that Chatr customers will experience “fewer dropped calls than [with] new wireless carriers.”

Two recently-founded carriers, Mobilicity and Wind Mobile, have complained to regulators about Rogers’ aggressive efforts to promote the Chatr brand.

“We take misleading advertising very seriously,” Competition Commissioner, Melanie Aitken, said earlier today. “Consumers deserve accurate information when making purchasing decisions and need to have confidence they are not being misled by false advertising campaigns.”

Rogers, however, expressed “surpirse” at the Bureau’s decision. “We have extensive, independent third party testing to validate our claims and we stand by our advertising,” commented Ken Engelhart, the company’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs. “We will vigorously defend this action in court.”

The Competition Bureau is asking for a $10-million fine to be levied against Rogers. The case is now headed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, where it will be tried under the Misleading Advertising provisions of Canada’s Competition Act.

Faced with intense competition in the mobile operating system market, American software giant Microsoft is suing Motorola, alleging patent infringement by that company’s ‘Droid’ smartphone.

Microsoft has filed a lawsuit in a district court in Washington state as well as a complaint with the International Trade Commission, claiming that the Droid infringes nine patents dealing with wireless email, calendars, contacts, and memory.

“Microsoft innovations at issue in this case help make smartphones ‘smart,’” commented Microsoft’s general counsel, Horacio Gutierrez, in a blog post. “Indeed, our patents relate to key features that users have come to expect from every smartphone.”

This isn’t the first intellectual property complaint involving Android-based devices. Apple filed a suit against Android smartphone manufacturer, HTC, earlier this year and Oracle, owner of the Java programming language, sued Android developer Google in August.

Bell Canada has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that it overbilled a number of landline and wireless customers in Ontario.

The company apparently charged late fees to customers that paid their phone bills by cheque, before the deadline listed on the bill.

Bell denies any fault or obligation in the case, but has agreed to take certain actions in order to rectify the dispute. These actions include changes to the way late fees are calculated as well as account credits to current customers who are disputing their late fees. For people who are no longer Bell customers or cannot be identified, Bell will make charitable contributions on their behalf.