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.
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.
