iLounge

Taiwanese firm Elan Microelectronics has filed suit against Apple claiming infringement on two of Elan’s touch-screen patents. The New York Times reports that the suit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, and alleges that Apple products including the MacBook, iPhone, and iPod touch feature technology that infringes on two of Elan’s multi-touch patents. “We couldn’t find a common viewpoint with Apple, so we decided we had to take action,” said Elan spokesman Dennis Liu, adding that the two companies had been in licensing talks for roughly two years. Elan previously sued U.S.-based Synaptics in 2006 over one of the patents mentioned in the Apple suit; Synaptics counter-sued, and both actions were later dismissed after the two companies reached a cross-licensing agreement. It is unclear what damages or action Elan is seeking in its suit against Apple.