Another day, another lawsuit. AppleInsider reports that Uniloc, a “patent troll,” has filed suit against Apple claiming infringement of three patents related to certain Maps features, user authentication via Apple ID and UDIDs, and remote iOS updates.
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Filed with the patent holder friendly Eastern Texas District Court, Uniloc’s lawsuit alleges infringement of three owned patents relating to various consumer facing Apple services. The non-practicing entity is leveraging a set of fairly recent IP credited to Uniloc CEO and serial inventor Craig Etchegoyen.
A “patent troll” is an individual or an organization that purchases and holds patents for unscrupulous purposes such as stifling competition or launching patent infringement suits. In legal terms, a patent troll is a type of non-practicing entity: someone who holds a patent but is not involved in the design or manufacture of any product or process associated with that patent.