Apple is being sued for patent infringement by a Native American tribe

Apple gets sued for patent infringement dozens of times each year, mostly by little-known shell companies with no products—the types of companies often derided as “patent trolls.” But the newest lawsuit seeking royalty payments from iPad sales is likely a first: the recently created plaintiff, MEC Resources LLC, is wholly owned by a Native American tribe.

The case had a typical beginning. In March, a Texas company named Prowire LLC filed a lawsuit (PDF) against Apple in Delaware federal court, claiming that the iPad 4 infringes its US Patent No. 6,137,390.

Apple asked the judge to transfer the case to California. Prowire lawyers opposed that motion, but they didn’t hang around to see the litigation through. In August, they informed the court that the patent had been handed off to MEC Resources LLC, a North Dakota firm. Shortly thereafter, the Delaware judge granted a transfer to California, noting that MEC is a “North Dakota citizen” and that keeping Apple in Delaware’s overcrowded courts made little sense.

Read 20 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Ars Technica

Post Author: martin

Martin is an enthusiastic programmer, a webdeveloper and a young entrepreneur. He is intereted into computers for a long time. In the age of 10 he has programmed his first website and since then he has been working on web technologies until now. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BriefNews.eu and PCHealthBoost.info Online Magazines. His colleagues appreciate him as a passionate workhorse, a fan of new technologies, an eternal optimist and a dreamer, but especially the soul of the team for whom he can do anything in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.