William Gallagher
An existing lawsuit claiming that Apple's iPhone infringes camera patents has now been extended with a demand that the damages include older devices.
Previously, ImmerVision alleged that Apple infringed on its patent for an ultra wide camera with the iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max. That original filing included the possibility that the company would extend the suit to other devices, however, and now it has added the iPhone 12 range, and the 2021 iPad Pro.
According to Bloomberg Law, ImmerVision filed the updated complaint on December 8, 2021, in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Reportedly, the only change in the suit is the addition of these further devices. Otherwise, the contention remains that these devices contain what are described as objective lens structures. These compress the center and edges of an image, while at the same time expanding the intermediate zone.
Consequently, the system is able to capture wide-angle shots with minimal distortion. According to ImmerVision, this infringes on its patent for a "Method for capturing and displaying a variable resolution digital panoramic image," granted in 2005.
Bloomberg Law further says that this alleged infringement is in violation of a June 2014 agreement between ImmerVision and Apple. The full text of the original filing is below.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
3 Comments
So they're suing because of the lens design.
That weirdly is one of the more valid claims I've seen from patent trolls.
Wasn’t wide angle lens was invented like 100 years ago?
also, a camera lens is a camera lens, it doesn’t matter it is wide angle or tele. Just different angle of field. Wide or telephoto is just a label. A wide angle in medium format can be 45mm. But 45mm is a “normal” lens in 35mm film/digital.