A Frisco, Texas based holding company by the name of SmartPhone Technologies LLC has filed suit against Apple, AT&T, RIM, Samsung, Sanyo, LG, and Motorola alleging that all the companies named are infringing upon patents owned by the aforementioned company.
Apple faces six counts of patent violations which include power conservation, telephony features, and email sync along with Bluetooth capability. The other companies were named together in violation of U.S. Patent No. 5,742,095, entitled “Personal Communications Internetworking”.
Smartphone Technologies is also seeking undisclosed damages from all of the companies involved, while requesting a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas, where patent lawsuits are often filed in hopes of a favorable outcome for the plaintiff.
In a 2009 patent case also filed in Texas, Apple lost a similar case against patent holder OPTI Inc. when the same U.S. District Court had found that Apple infringed on patent No. 6,405,291, which meant that Apple was ordered to pay the company $19 million on top of an additional $2.7 million added on as pre-judgement interest, bringing the total judgment to $21.7 million.
Smartphone patents have now become a hot-button issue, with Apple, Nokia, HTC and others all involved in different lawsuits involving various technology patents involving one and/or the other manufacturer in recent months.