A lawsuit filed at the Texas Eastern District Court from Seatoun Media states that Apple is infringing a 2002 patent for part of a point-of-sale system, which is related with the recording and playback of voice messages over a network.
The complaint filed by Seatoun Media centers around a patent entitled "Point to point voice message processor, method and recording/playback device," this patent describes a "voice message processor" which can send messages between users of the POS system.
The complaint alleges a lot of claims of the patent which apply to a number of Apple products, highlighting those products equipped with iMessage or able to be used with other messaging software to be infringing. The "non-limiting" list in the complaint includes products such as the iPhone 4 and later models, iPads, the iPod touch, and iMessage itself.
Example of infringement
Seatoun Media gave one example of infringement, in which consumers are induced to use their iPhone 6 with iMessage to record and play voice messages using a communications link. Apple is accused of infringing the patent by "inducing the direct infringement by consumers," by allowing voice messages to be sent.
The complaint states that Apple was informed of the alleged infringement in October last year, and that its "ongoing infringement is willful." Damages are requested by Seatoun for the patent infringement, at the "maximum rate permitted by law," as well as legal fees.
Apple has yet to respond to the complaint.
The filing through the Texas Eastern district court is no surprise, as the jurisdiction has been the venue for many patent battles in the past for Apple, in suits against both major competitors and non-practicing entities. In September, Apple could not defend itself against VirnetX in a patent infringement suit over virtual private networking, costing Apple $302.4 million.
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