Apple fails to stop Maxell navigation patent suit
Apple must face patent infringement claims brought by Japanese electronics company Maxell, a Texas federal court has ruled.
The California tech company had asked for Maxell’s infringement claims, which relate to Apple smartphones including the iPhone XS, to be thrown out of court.
On Wednesday, October 23, however, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the claims had enough credibility to proceed to trial.
Maxell sued Apple in March this year, claiming that certain Apple smartphone functions such as Find My Friends and Maps infringed ten of the Japanese company’s patents relating to mobile navigation tools.
According to Apple, Maxell failed to convincingly argue that the US company knew of the patents or alleged infringement before the suit was filed.
Apple also claimed that Maxell had failed to allege any specific intent to infringe the Japanese company’s patents.
In Wednesday’s order, the court rejected Apple’s motion to dismiss the case on these grounds, saying that the US company had significantly played down Maxell’s allegations in its bid to have them dismissed.
According to the court, Apple “incorrectly asserted” that Maxell’s complaint contained nothing more than citations to Apple’s product user guides and web pages.
In fact, the court ruled, “Maxell alleged significantly more”.
“The [Maxell] complaint sets out detailed allegations of direct infringement, identifying the accused functionalities and accused devices for each patent,” the court order said.
As part of its evidence, Maxell also produced citations and screenshots of Apple’s advertisements and user guides with alleged “descriptions and demonstrations” for the smartphone functions which are alleged to infringe the Japanese company’s patents.
“These factual allegations are sufficient to give rise to a reasonable inference that Apple specifically intended to induce infringement,” the court ruled.
Maxell claimed that from 2013 to 2018, the two companies held “numerous meetings” to discuss a “potential business transaction” relating to the navigation tech.
In March this year, WIPR reported that Maxell had settled a patent suit it brought against Taiwanese electronics company Asus.
In that case, Maxell claimed that Asus infringed seven of its patents relating to smartphone cameras and data management.
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