Tech common to many cellphones

A company from Reston, Virginia is suing Apple over the wireless communication technology found in the iPhone, reports and court filings reveal. In particular Intellect Wireless alleges that Apple is violating a patent concept meant to "receive and display caller ID information, non-facsimile pictures, video messages and/or Multimedia Messaging Services [MMS]." By extension, a large number of cellphones from many other companies could be infringing.

Intellect has in fact been launching suits against a number of cellular-based businesses since February 2008, beginning with T-Mobile, Virgin, Helio and US Cellular. Motorola, LG, Sanyo and Samsung were targeted later that year, and in May 2009 a lawsuit was filed against HTC. Like many companies filing such complaints, Intellect has not produced any commercially-available products using the patent.

In the suit against Apple, Intellect is asking for $10 million in damages. Some form of settlement may be likely, given the potential costs for Apple of going to court. The iPhone maker also has more significant legal matters to address, such as its entanglement with Nokia.

by MacNN Staff