Apple Sued Over Multi-touch

Taiwanese firm Elan Microelectronics has sued Apple over two of its touch-screen patents, according to a New York Times report.

The suit was filed late Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said company spokesman Dennis Liu. “We couldn't find a common viewpoint with Apple, so we decided we had to take action,” he said, adding that the companies had been in licensing talks for about two years.

Elan said it won a preliminary court injunction against U.S.-based rival Synaptics in a dispute over one of the patents mentioned in the Apple lawsuit, after a then-subsidiary unit filed suit in 2006. Synaptics counter-sued.

Both actions were dismissed last year after the two companies reached a cross-licensing agreement, according to a statement on Elan’s website.

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