iBeer iPhone Developer Sues Coors for $12.5M

Coors faces a $12.5 million lawsuit for allegedly copying a $3 beer-drinking iPhone application called iBeer, according to Wired.com

Hottrix, a small company that develops "tricks" for mobile devices, filed a lawsuit alleging that Coors commited copyright infringement by copying its iPhone application iBeer. Both Hottrix's application and Coors' iPint display the image of a glass of beer on the iPhone's screen, which is emptied when a user tilts the handset about 90 degrees. Both apps launched in the App Store on July 11 -- the major difference being that iBeer cost $3 and iPint was free.

An attorney for the law firm representing Hottrix, Buchalter Nemer, said the smaller company attempted to reach an amicable solution with Coors, without success. Hottrix then complained to Apple, which eventually removed iPint from the App Store in the United States. However, iPint still appears in the App Store in other countries.

"My client... is really a mom-and-pop company who just wants to protect their intellectual property rights," said Jason Fisher, the attorney representing Hottrix.