The ITC has voted to institute an investigation under section 337 of the Tariff Act against Apple based on a complaint filed by Alston & Bird on behalf of Elan Microelectronics Corp. of Taiwan.
The IP dispute could have far-reaching implications on both sides of the Pacific. Elan’s complaint alleges that the Apple is infringing on Elan’s patent covering electronic devices with multi-touch pads and touchscreens, and asks the ITC to ban the import of all infringing products, including iPhones, iPod Touch and Magic Mouse devices, and now iPads.
According to the filing, “Apple has used Elan’s patented technology throughout its product line without Elan’s authorization. For example, in June 2007, Apple introduced its iPhone and iPod Touch products. These products use touchscreens as essentially the only user interface option and make widespread use of the multitouch input gestures” covered by the patent.
Elan is being represented by Yitai Hu, Paul Brinkman, Sean DeBruine, Elizabeth Rader and Hunter Jefferson.
The case has been featured on The BLT: Blog of
LegalTimes, in an entry that can be read
here.