Facebook Inc. has upped the ante in its patent dispute with BlackBerry Ltd.

On Tuesday the social media giant counterclaimed for declaratory judgment of non-infringement and invalidity of nine patents BlackBerry is asserting in the Central District of California. That same day, Facebook took the more aggressive step of filing a new, separate patent infringement suit, Facebook v. BlackBerry, in the Northern District.

Facebook is asserting six patents that it has acquired from America Online, AT&T, BellSouth, HP and 3Com. They cover a grab bag of features: a messaging interface, wireless communication efficiency, GPS management, network security and other technology that BlackBerry allegedly incorporates into various enterprise software and service products.