The mobile phone patent wars are alive and well and the ITC has agreed to investigate some of Apple's products at Motorola's bequest. The ITC will investigate certain iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Macs after Motorola requested an inquiry last month. Motorola is curious if Apple violates section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by using patents Motorola holds.

Of course, with any legal action, decisions will be a long time coming. The case first has to be assigned to an administrative law judge. Once assigned, that judge will schedule an initial hearing that will take a look at the evidence. The judge will make a ruling that will then be reviewed by the ITC's panel of judges.

It could be several months before we hear anything on this front. Apple and Motorola have not yet commented on this story. This just seems to be the start of Apple's legal troubles as they are also being harassed by HTC and Samsung over 4G patents. Could this finally be the payback for their years of trolling?