Apple is facing yet another patent suit, this one brought against the company by Intertrust Technologies, an outfit that specialises in DRM solutions.
The suit claims that Apple is broadly infringing on fifteen of Intertrust’s patents for “security and distributed trusted computing” and alleges that the infringing products made by Apple include “iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad, Mac computers and laptops, Apple TV, and services including iTunes, iCloud, and the Apple App Store.” So… pretty much everything Apple currently makes.
Intertrust CEO Talal Shamoon said in a statement “Apple makes many great products that use Intertrust’s inventions. Our patents are foundational to modern Internet security and trusted computing and result from years of internal research and development. We are proud of our record of peaceful and constructive licensing with industry leaders. We find it regrettable that we are forced to seek Court assistance to resolve this matter.”
Intertrust currently has license agreements with several companies including Microsoft, which the DRM firm won a $440 million settlement from in 2004. This particular case is likely to be contested however, as Apple’s tendency to patent everything that they do will probably have equipped them with something to counter Intertrust’s claims.
Source: Ars Technica