Scottish mobile technology firm Picsel is suing Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) over claims the iPhone and iPod touch use a key element of Picsel’s patented “rapid redraw” mobile screen navigation technology. The suit (via the Reg), filed at the US District Court for Delaware, claims that the devices use the rendering technology which prevents long delays while zooming and panning through web pages and documents. The suit alleges Apple is making, selling and distributing phones that infringe on US patent 7,009,626 (also via the Reg) and in the suit Picsel claim to have invested “millions of dollars” in the contested technology. Picsel claims its mobile systems have been implemented — legally — into more than 250 million devices worldwide.
Apple have yet to comment on the case. A regulatory filing in November (via Dow Jones) admitted it was involved in 20 legal cases: “Because of technological changes in the computer, digital music player and mobile communications industries, current extensive patent coverage, and the rapid rate of issuance of new patents, it is possible certain components of the Company’s products and business methods may unknowingly infringe existing patents or intellectual property rights of others.”
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