Apple Sued Over Touch Technology Patent

Apple sued over touch technology patentIf you’re reading this, you’ll probably consider yourself as a follower of all things tech, and perhaps Apple too. Recently, there’s been a noticeable hike in the number of lawsuit being thrown around in the tech world as everybody sues everybody else.

We’ve all become a little desensitized to the phrases “legal battle”, “copyright infringement” and so on… If you feel the same way, I wholeheartedly suggest you snap out of it, because this is perhaps the most important lawsuit in tech history.

Apple are being sued by a Pennsylvania company over touch technology. FlatWorld Interactive designs touch screen systems to be used in… wait for it… museum displays. Founded back in 2007, the company was a platform for founder Slavko Milekic to commercialize his touch screen patent.

(The patent for his technology was patented in 2005, just before the iPhone started development) He’d developed an intuitive gesture recognition system that could be used by children, helping them interact with computers, his patent incorporates the kind of thing Apple users will be very familiar with, such as flicking through images, and selecting images by touching them.

FlatWorld are looking for a permanent injunction to be taken out against Apple to stop them infringing this technology in the future. Oh, and a load of money. If you’d like to take a look at the full lawsuit document, then click here.

However, just to sum up the scale of this lawsuit. If Apple are indeed found to have infringed this patent, the consequences could be horrendous for Cupertino. Devices under scrutiny are:

  • The iPhone
  • The iPod Touch
  • The iPod Nano (6th Generation)
  • The Macbook Pro
  • The Macbook Air
  • The Magic mouse/Magic Track pad in combination with any Mac running OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.1 or later

Now remember, FlatWorld are demanding an injunction against Apple and all those in active concert with Apple to prevent this patent being infringed.

Yes, they want money, but they will not settle and allow Apple to continue use of the technologies. You can stuff your puny slide-to-unlock squabbles… FlatWorld has gone straight for the jugular.

Got any thoughts on this? Leave a comment below,

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