Tellabs is suing Fuijitsu for patent infringement. These types of cases always make me wonder — why now? Why not sooner? Both have been developing similar products for years.

Here’s my (unsubstantiated) theory for this case: Analysts keep saying that the slowing economy doesn’t hurt telecom, that in fact bandwidth needs will increase and carriers need to install new equipment along the way. But I think this suit might be a peripheral attempt for Tellabs to clinch some licensing royalties. Check out its last set of earnings to see what I mean. The company saw a 35 percent drop in profit and predicted its second-quarter results wouldn’t be any better.

So maybe this lawsuit has more to do with ways to get some extra money coming in, as fewer orders seem to be going out.