Glasgow-based patent licenser Picsel Technologies says the
Cupertino iDevice maker illegally uses display technologies it
developed. The firm sued Apple on Friday in Delaware District
Court.
Picsel claims Apple infringes on its US patent
7,009,626, titled "Systems and Methods for Generating Visual
Representations of Graphical Data and Digital Document
Processing."
The patent describes using an approximate, intermediary
rendering of what's displayed on a device while scrolling, zooming,
or during other major screen transitions.
For example, if a user zooms into a particular object on a
device's web browser, the transition is done by showing an
approximation of what the final display will look like using scaled
data from the page before the zoom.
Picsel claims it has
spent millions of dollars developing the technology for the patent,
which the USPTO approved on March 7, 2006.
The company also alleges that Apple knowingly and deliberately
infringes on patent '626 with devices such as the iPhone and iPod
Touch, although the initial complaint doesn't provide evidence for
this claim.
Picsel says the IP has been baked into more than 200 million
devices worldwide. Its website lists companies like Fujitsu, NEC,
Toshiba, Sharp, Panasonic, Palm, HP, Motorola, and Nokia as
licensing partners.
It appears many of the technologies the firm makes are produced
in-house - not collected from other inventors.
The complaint asks for a block on allegedly infringing Apple
products, unspecified damages, that patent damages be increased to
three times the amount awarded, and attorneys fees.
A copy of the lawsuit is available here.
© The Register
2009
