Apple Sued For iPhone Patent Infringement

Real estate developer Elliot Gottfurcht and two co-inventors have brought a lawsuit against Apple Inc. claiming that technology the iPhone uses to browse the internet infringes on their patent.

The lawsuit was filed by EMG Technology LLC, found by Gottfurcht, on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Tyler Texas.

The lawsuit claims that technology used on the iPhone to navigate and display websites infringes upon a patent obtained by EMG last month.

Apple declined to comment on the lawsuit.

According to Gottfurcht’s lawyer Stanley Gibson, EMG has not considered suing HTC Corp, maker of the G1 Google phone, or Research in Motion Ltd, the maker of the Blackberry, even though both devices use similar technology as the iPhone.

The technology in question essentially reformats websites to be viewed on tiny, mobile device screens.

“We haven’t looked at anything other than the iPhone,” Gibson said. “That was the device that we looked at. Obviously it’s very popular.”

According to a statement issued by his law firm, Gibson was one of several attorneys who won a $570 million verdict by suing Medtronic Inc over a patent infringement.

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