Apple and Elan Microelectronics settle patents dispute for iPhones, iPads and MacBooks
Apple has settled out of court a case brought against it regarding alleged infringement of copyright relating to technology used in its iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, among other devices.
The California-based consumer technology powerhouse is now set to pay the Taiwanese company Elan Microelectronics $5 million, reportedly so that a potentially lengthy court case could be more swiftly resolved.
Elan, which develops touch design products, first claimed that the patents on its multi-touch technology had been infringed back in 2009. The associated lawsuit looked at the make up of a number of Apple products including some of its top selling consumer devices like iPhones and MacBooks.
A statement from the Taiwanese company explained that it and Apple had exchanged authorisations to use one another’s patents as part of the settlement deal.
An Apple spokesperson told Reuters: “We are glad to put the Elan case behind us and avoid a drawn-out court battle. The cross-licensing agreement gives Elan access to two of Apple’s Touch patents, but none of the innovations that make iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch unique.”
It is not unusual for lawsuits to be brought to court in the US and elsewhere that reference alleged infringement of patents relating to technology used in widely sold devices since the revenues involved are on such a large scale. Very often big players in the industry decide to settle such matters out of court as a relatively small price to pay for having the issue conclusively resolved.
Apple sold in excess of 17 million iPhones and close to five million Macs during its most recently assessed three month period. Its annual revenues were worth a whopping $108 billion, while its profits totalled close to $26 billion.
In related news, a report from the DigiTimes website recently suggested that Apple is preparing to launch two new and updated versions of its market-leading iPad tablet devices over the course of this year.
0 Comments
You can be the first one to leave a comment.