A company has sued Apple and a number of other technology firms, alleging their smartphones and other touch-screen devices violate a patent covering “double-click input.” Apple’s iPad and iPhone were specifically mentioned because the handset and tablet allow users to “double click or double tap a visual element representing content and interact with a second version of the interactive content.”
The lawsuit by Hopewell Culture and Design asks an Eastern Texas District Court to award “adequate damages” for the supposed violations. The U.S. Patent No. 7,171,625 was first filed in 2002. Also named in the lawsuit are Adobe, HTC, Nokia, LG Electronics, Motorola, Opera, Palm, Samsung and Quickoffice.
Although Apple’s popular iPhone and iPad are named in the lawsuit, no specific version of the iOS platform is mentioned. Adobe’s Adobe Reader is named by the plaintiff. Also specifically mention are HTC’s Droid Eris, Droid Incredible, Hero and EVO smartphones. Nokia’s N900 and N97 are charged with violating the ‘625 patent.
The Eastern District in Texas is often used for patent-violation lawsuits as the court frequently rules in favor of the plaintiff, reports noted Friday.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
