Apple on Thursday opted to settle to end Elan's lawsuit over two multi-touch patents. Elan said Apple had paid a relatively small $5 million to avoid a final trial and a possible ban on iOS devices and Macs. The two would cross-license patents as part of the exchange, although it's not clear what Apple would give up in return.
The US International Trade Commission has officially agreed to investigate a patent infringement allegation against Apple, submitted by Taiwan's Elan Microelectronics. The two companies have been involved in a long-running legal dispute, as Elan accuses Apple of violating patents related to multi-touch technology. On the basis of one patent, Elan in late March filed a motion with the ITC to block US sales of infringing products, potentially including the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, MacBook and Magic Mouse.
Taiwan's Elan Microelectronics -- involved in a long-running lawsuit with Apple over multi-touch technology -- has asked the US International Trade Commission to block the import and sale of a variety of Apple products, says Bloomberg. Specifically Elan says it wants to halt products that infringe on its "352" patent, which describes a means of detecting the presence of two or more fingers. "Our goal is to protect our technology and to stop sales of those products in the US," says Elan spokesman Dennis Liu.
Elan Microelectronics is denying rumors that it has settled a patent lawsuit directed against Apple, according to a Taiwanese news site. The case was originally launched in April of last year, and accuses Apple of violating two multi-touch patents by way of the iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook. The settlement would allegedly be worth $70 million, but Elan insists that the issue is still in front of the US' International Trade Commission.
A recently spotted FCC filing reveals that the netbook formerly known as the élan from Mobinnova will soon be coming to wireless provider AT&T, as evidenced by the BEAMATT product ID. If the specs remain the same as the élan, this means an 8.9-inch screen and processing power from NVIDIA's Tegra processor, which combine to output 720p HD video files and accelerated Flash content.
Apple is facing a lawsuit over its increasingly central touch technology, Reuters writes. A Taiwanese chip design firm, Elan Microelectronics, has accused Apple of violating two touchscreen patents, said to be used in the displays of the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as the trackpads utilized in modern MacBooks. Elan claims to have successfully sued another company, Synaptics, for similar reasons.
