Apple has been on the recipient end of a lawsuit that alleges that all of Apple’s products that support Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity infringes upon a set of wireless communication patents. The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint file claims that Apple products, including its iPhones and iPads, infringe upon 13 very different patents owned by the company called Smart Mobile, LLC. All of the patents listed under Apple share, more or less, a common specification; most of the specifications are part of a patent application filed back in 1999.
The patents in question mostly deal with wireless communications systems and devices that feature voice and data communications capabilities, devices that are equipped with the ability to change between wireless networks, and devices that can connect to a server to enhance their functionality. The lawsuit specifically has in mind various Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, especially the products that came after iPhone 5S, to the latest iPad Pro models. The lawsuit also targets Apple’s wireless technology features such as the multi-path TCP (MPTCP) and MIMO. TCP enables a device to support both the use of cellular and Wi-Fi networks simultaneously, the MIMO, on the other hand, employs a multi-antenna system to enhance wireless connection.
The plaintiff claims that the California-based tech giant already had knowledge of at least eight of the patents, as well as some other patents filed by Smart Mobile, since the second half of the year 2015.
Smart Mobile, the plaintiff, in the lawsuit is looking for a jury trial. Moreover, the company is also seeking damages, a permanent injunction barring Apple from manufacturing or selling the alleged infringing products which involve quite a lot of the current Apple products.
