AppleInsider Staff
The new lawsuit filed by Advanced Display Technologies of Texas LLC claims Apple and others are infringing on U.S. Patent No. 5,739,931, "Illumination System Employing an Array of Microprisms," and U.S. Patent No. 6,261,664, "Optical Structures for Diffusing Light."
No specific Apple products are named in the suit, but the broad complaint accuses the Cupertino, Calif., company of patent violations with "computers, computer monitors, mobile telephones, and mobile media players." That would mean the lion's share of Apple products, including iPhones, Macs and iPods, are claimed to be in violation of both the '664 and '931 patents.
Apple is far from alone in the suit, joined by a number of other high-profile technology companies in the Advanced Display Technologies complaint. Among those named are computer maker Asus and rival smartphone maker research in motion.
Unsurprisingly, the display-related complaint also targets a number of companies that specialize in building television sets and computer montiros. Among those named are Haier, Vizio, Viewsonic and Sharp.
Though the lawsuit lists the company as "Advanced Display Technologies," a similarly named "Advance Display Technology" exists online at the website adtimediainc.com. That company describes itself as "a worldwide leader in proprietary digital display products specifically engineered for the human optical system."
One of the company's products is a mesh outdoor LED display architecture known as "SkyNet," claimed to feature "the latest in LED technology, design, durability and support.
The complaint was filed in a U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, where patent lawsuits are often initiated in hopes of a favorable outcome.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
31 Comments
This has to stop.
This has to stop.
Here we go again! Backlighting monitors. Who'd have thought??!!
Next on the list, buttons on a keyboard... just wait....
This has to stop.
At least this company was from Texas. When a company from say New York files in East Texas against a company from Calf. I can't even see how they would allow it.
But I agree completely that this has to stop. It is absolutely absurd.
This has to stop.
It is quite ridiculous isn't it. There should be an investigation at the Federal level into this East Texas set up. If it were consistent with American Law and the rest of the country's court systems then it would not get so many claimants at its door!
This has to stop.
More like AppleInsider needs to stop devoting a new thread everytime one of these gets filed- like who really cares?