What did we say about the litigation-happy society that the US has become ? It looks like another joker is coming out of the woodwork and has filed suit against 131 companies for infringing on his patent regarding the sending and receiving of SMS text message to/from foreign countries. Digital Trends is reporting that Aris Mardirissian, founder of Technology Patents LLC, claims that his two patents ( 6,646,542 and RE39,870 ) outline a method to deliver SMS text messages overseas by using the internet as a packet-switched network to reach a foreign mobile network. Mardirissian is seeking a permanent injunction against all companies sending and receiving international SMS text messages and some money as compensation. The suit names Microsoft, Motorola, Yahoo, Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T among a host of other companies totalling a whopping 131 in all! Now, this character has apparently had some legal trouble in the past, so we’ll see how this lawsuit pans out. [Via: Textually ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Samsung's new patent to improve the text messagingAT&T launches International Long Distance Texting planT-Mobile USA to raise text messaging pricesFree SMS text messaging from your web browser - also sends to your mobile phone, does mass messaging, repliesBroadcom Sues Qualcomm Over Patent And Licensing Mis-steps

What does it take for the No. 1 wireless carrier in the US to finally offer a consumer-friendly service that actually prioritizes the the customer’s needs ahead of the corporate bottom line? We’d say something like 4 months. AT&T has finally announced an international iPhone data plan to help jet-setters avoid racking up roaming data charges in the thousands of dollars . The new Data Global Plan offers iPhone users 20MB of overseas wireless data for $25 per month (data overages cost half a cent per KB), $60 per month if you need 50MB of data (with each additional KB costing $0.005) - and is offered in 29 countries. The Data Global Plan only offers international data, so keep that overseas talktime to a minimum. Hit up AT&T’s handy pre-travel guide to make sure your travels don’t result in some un-godly wireless bills. [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:AT&T offering monster iPhone rate plans with thousands of minutes!Apple announces rate plans for the iPhone - unlimited data and 200 SMS text messages included!AT&T's data plan for the Apple iPhone may be called the 'iPlan'Stop paying for slow iPhone internet performance - get a phone-only iPhone plan for $40Sprint to introduce [...]