We are hearing this morning that Apple [AAPL] themselves are being sued for infringing on a multi-touch patent of a company called Elan Microelectronics Corp. That company are now taking the case to the U.S. trade agency in an attempt to ban the import and sales of the Apple iPad, iPod Touch and the iPhone.
Elan’s complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington claims Apple ‘knowingly and deliberately used Elan’s technology, while continuing to introduce infringing products, the company claims in the complaint.
‘Our goal is to protect our technology and to stop sales of those products in the U.S., Dennis Liu, spokesman for Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Elan.
Although as it stands right now, Apple will obviously go ahead and sell the Apple iPad and export on their schedule although a whole can of worms could potentially be opened up if Elan win the case.
It’s also interesting to note that Elan and HTC have no connection according to BusinessWeek. Apple are suing HTC over 20 patent infringements with a number of them relating to the touch screen technologies Apple use.
These sorts of legal battles can take a while to pan out, so don’t expect to see any changes for the next few months, if any at all. Of course, it might all be just settled with a wedge of cash and business will continue as usual.
Via: WMPowerUser
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