Company sues 16 big hitters over computer patent

Apple and Amazon are two of 16 companies that have been sued over the alleged infringement of a computer-based patent.

Long Corner Consumer Electronics, which appears to be a non-practising entity, has claimed numerous smartphones, tablets and e-book readers, including the iPad and Kindle Fire HD, read on its invention.

Called a “System, device, and method for extending a stroke of a computer pointing device,” the patent, granted in 2010, was invented by a man called Aaron Grunberger.

Long Corner filed 16 separate but identical suits in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall division on November 26, seeking injunctive relief and damages.

The remaining defendants are: Acer; ASUS Computer International; Barnes & Noble; BlackBerry; Coolpad Technologies; Fuhu; Fujitsu; HTC; Huawei; Kyocera Communications; Lenovo; LG Electronics; Panasonic; and ViewSonic.

According to the complaint, the defendants have infringed and continue to directly infringe one or more claims of the ‘483 patent, including at least claim one (of 20).

It adds: “Generally for descriptive purposes, and without limitation in any way, characteristics of the accused instrumentalities include a sensor (for example, an accelerometer and/or a gyroscope), an input element (for example, a touch screen), and auto-rotation capability with the ability to inhibit such auto-rotation.”

But as noted by the blog Patently Apple, which was reporting on the complaint against Apple, the patent’s specification does not match the language discussed in the lawsuit.

“It's interesting to note that words ‘accelerometer’, ‘gyroscope’ and ‘auto-rotation’ that are found in the plaintiff's complaint are nowhere to be found in the plaintiff's patent,” the site said.

The law firm representing the complainant, which does not appear to have a website but is registered in Texas, is Tadlock Law Firm PLLC.