Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s attempts to set aside a
lawsuit brought by MobileMediaideas over a patent violation related to screen
rotation technology has been refused by a U.S. district court judge.
Delaware district court judge Sue Robinson said that
the question of whether Apple's iOS devices infringed on MobileMediaIdeas'
patents was suitable for determination by a jury.
MobileMediaIdeas is a patent troll and is jointly
owned by Sony Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:SNE), Nokia Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:NOK) and
licensing group MPEG LA. The company has no products of its own but holds more
than 300 patents which have been acquired from Sony Corp and Nokia.
The existence of the company protects the two
manufacturers from defensive countersuits from targets of suits brought by the
company.
The history of the screen rotation patent is
interesting. Originally it was granted to Sony in 1999. However Apple has
raised an objection to that.
According to the iPhone maker, the Sony patent is
invalid because of prior art addressing device rotation sensing by
potentiometer or sensor, rather than by a button which is what is specified in
Sony's patent being asserted.
Judge Robinson has held that Apple has not been able
to demonstrate the obviousness of the asserted patent, and the matter will have
to be heard at a trial.
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