Another day, another lawsuit. EMG Technology will move to include the iPad as an additional accused product in EMG’s previously filed patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, which is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
“EMG will take steps to add Apple’s newly released iPad to the range of Apple products already accused of patent infringement in the case, including the iTunes Store, iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV. The trial date is set for September 12, 2011,” says Shawn Hansen, an attorney with the Palo Alto, California office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which is representing EMG in the case.
“The irony is that recently Apple filed an International Trade Commission action against HTC, a major manufacturer of Google and Microsoft smart phones for allegedly infringing Apple’s patents,” says Elliot A. Gottfurcht, managing member of EMG and lead inventor on the patents asserted in the case. “Apple is requesting the Federal Government to impose an injunction to block Google’s Android and Microsoft’s phones from entering the United States. Steve Jobs released a personal statement putting HTC on notice, ‘…competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.’ EMG intends to hold Apple to the same standard by fighting Apple’s reckless disregard for EMG’s patent rights.”
In 2008, EMG accused Apple of infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,441,196 in the way the iPhone navigates the Internet. The company says was one of the named inventors of five U.S. patents for navigating the Internet on mobile devices and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Issued on Oct. 21, 2008, the ‘196 patent includes 76 claims, which are supported by specifications filed in 1999 by Gottfurcht and others.