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Apple sued over alleged iPhone patent infringement

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Apple sued over alleged iPhone patent infringement

25.11.2008
Apple is being sued by a California technology firm that alleges the technology the iPhone uses to navigate and display certain websites infringes on a patent obtained a month ago.

According to reports, a suit was filed in a district court in Texas by a company called EMG Technology LLC, led by Californian real-estate developer Elliot Gottfurht and two co-inventors.

The lawsuit filed yesterday accuses Apple of infringing US Patent No 7,441,196.

Interestingly, the suit focuses on Apple only, not other phone makers that also have web-browsing technology to display websites, such as HTC, makers of the G1 Google phone, or Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry Storm.

EMG is represented by Stanley Gibson, who recently successfully prosecuted a patent infringement case against Medtronic Inc that resulted in a US$570m verdict.

The EMG suit focuses around the reformatting of websites to appear in the small screens of mobile devices, and the way Apple’s Safari browser performs this function.

EMG is seeking unspecified damages, including lost royalties and profits from Apple.

By John Kennedy