Call it a cast of being fickle-minded but that seems to be the best term to define this issue surrounding Cartier and Apple. Apparently, the luxury watchmaker had planned to sue Apple for infringement after apps made by the Digitopolis Game Studio appeared on the Apple App Store.

Filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the lawsuit claimed the applications give people the ability to tell time on the iPhone and iPod Touch with a display that simulates famous wristwatches.

And the reason for the lawsuit withdrawal? Simple. Apple took out the app and that was that. Now that wasn’t so hard was it? Alls well that ends well!

(Source) CNET

Tags: Apple, apple lawsuit, apps, Business, cartier, Cell Phones, game studio, infringement, iPhone, Manhattan, Mobile News, watchmaker, wristwatches

Apple has been sued by Taiwan based manufacturer Elan Microelectronics Corp. for reportedly infringing two of its patents for touchscreen technology. The lawsuit, filed in a US District Court here on Tuesday, accuses Apple of infringing on Elan patents in its iBook, PowerBook and MacBook portable computers, the iPhone smartphone and the iPod Touch digital music player.

“Each of these devices includes a touch-sensitive input device capable of detecting the simultaneous presence of two or more fingers or other capacitive objects using the structure and methods claimed in (Elan’s) 352 patent,” the complaint said.

Elan alleged that the iPhone and iPod Touch infringe on another patent held by the Taiwan company. The complaint claims the patent infringement is causing Elan “irreparable harm,” asks the court to put an end to it and demands unspecified damages from the Cupertino, California-based Apple.

According to The New York Times, Elan filed suit in 2006 against another US company, Synaptics, over one of the patents mentioned in the Apple lawsuit. It said Synaptics countersued and both actions were dismissed last year after the companies reached a cross-licensing agreement.

(Source) AFP

Tags: Apple, apple lawsuit, Business, damages, digital music player, elan microelectronics, input device, iPhone, iPod Touch, patent infringement, patents, portable computers, powerbook, smartphone, taiwan company