Pitney-Bowes yesterday filed suit against Lexmark and several other companies, including Apple, over an alleged violation of a patent involving an internal piece of many laser printers, reports the Associated Press. The patent describes an apparatus used to smooth the edges of printed characters produced by a laser printer. Pitney-Bowes received a US$400 million settlement from Hewlett-Packard in a similar lawsuit filed last year. Pitney-Bowes claims that although the patent was issued in 1983 and expired in 2000, it is entitled to royalties on any laser printer that used its patented technology during those years. In the past Apple manufactured a number of laser printers, although the company no longer does.