Another day, another lawsuit. Taiwan’s Via Technologies is using Apple for infringing three US patents for microprocessors used in mobile phones and tablets, reports “Bloomberg” (http://macte.ch/88jme).
Via wants a jury trial and an order stopping Apple from selling products containing the inventions in the U.S., according to a complaint filed Wednesday in a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.
“The products at issue generally concern microprocessors included in a variety of electronic products such as certain smartphones, tablet computers, portable media players and other computing devices,” Via said in the complaint.
Interestingly, Via Technologies has close ties to another large Tawain-based company, HTC, which recently purchased S3 Graphics for $300 million from the semiconductor manufacturer, notes “The Next Web” (http://macte.ch/UXqBJ). The purchase was believed to have been a strategic move by the smartphone maker, snapping up the company for its patent portfolio — which it could then use against Apple to protect its innovations and defend itself from Apple’s copycat claims, the article adds.
Via manufactures a low-power x86 processor (Apple’s processors are a licensed, ARM-based design). Since the core tech behind products made by Via and Apple are based on completely different architecture, it could be that its issues are mainly to do with the modifications Apple has made to the basic ARM design in order to makes its A-series processors more power efficient, notes “GigaOm” (http://macte.ch/Dib4D).
— Dennis Sellers
