When you're as big as Apple, you get used to staffing a strong legal
department pretty quick. Copyright claims and lawsuits have become such a
mundane part of the tech business that we honestly can't even remember a
time when Cupertino and Samsung weren't at each other's throats over
some legal claim. Plus, suing a gigantic corporation is often a viable
way to earn a few bucks and many have even turned it into a
questionable, but still quite profitable business model.
Still, there is always the honest case of being mistreated as a
little player on the market and asking for some justice, which is
precisely what Immersion out of California claims to be doing with its
recent lawsuit against Apple and its Force Touch and 3D Touch
technology.
The claim revolves around three patents awarded to Immersion. The
first is titled "Haptic feedback system with stored effects " and seems
to describe software that shows previews after a light press and actions
after a firm one. That does sound quite familiar to Apple's "Peek and
Pop", but we definitely won't pass judgment.
The second and third patents are “Method and Apparatus for Providing
Tactile Sensations” and "Interactivity Model for Shared Feedback on
Mobile Devices", which Immersion ties to Apple's haptic feedback on
touch. But that sounds like a bit more vague of a claim.
Currently Immersion is pursuing legal actions against Apple seeking
reparations for damages, but has also filed a complaint with the
International Trade Commission (ITC), requesting a sales injunction on
the
iPhone 6s and
6s Plus within the US, which sounds like the more troubling bit.
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