Apple and others sued over touchscreens « The BEST Apple Hardware and Software Reviews

Written By Editor August 9th, 2009

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Tsera, a company who claims to have patented touchscreens, has sued twenty-three electronics companies, including Apple, Microsoft, LG, and others.

The suit was filed on July 15th, claiming that the iPod Classic, Nano, Microsoft’s Zune, and other handheld devices have violated a patent granted in 2003, entitled: “Methods and Apparatus for Controlling a Portable Electronic Device Using a Touchpad”.

The patent describes how a user enters commands via touchscreen by using their fingers, with no immediate visual feedback of the command pattern, and that the users does not need to view the actual device for delivering commands.

It also describes a “microcontroller”, that matches the pattern against pre-set patterns, thereby functioning the device. It is designed to replace buttons typically used for controlling purposes.

None of the defendants, including Auditek, Bang & Olufsen, Coby Electronics Corp., Cowon, Dane-Elec Corp., Data Station, IMA ” Hong Kong, Impecca USA, iRiver, Philips Electronics, LG Electronics, Mach Speed Technologies, Meizu Technology, Spectra Merchandising and Trekstor GMBH, have issued a statement on the matter.