Another day, another lawsuit. Or three. First up: AppleInsider notes that MemoryWeb, developer of a photo organizer app, claims Apple’s Photos and supporting services infringe on patents covering methods of organizing and viewing a photographic archive based on properties like location, tagged people and other identifiers.
Lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on Tuesday, MemoryWeb’s suit alleges Apple’s Photos apps in iOS and macOS infringe on patents that “allow people to organize, view, preserve these files with all the memory details captured, connected and vivified via an interactive interface.”
Also as noted by AppleInsider, a company dubbed BillJCo — which appears to me to be a “patent troll” — has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas claiming Apple’s Beacon technology infringes on six of its patents.
Debuting in 2013, Apple’s iBeacon is an indoor positioning system that the tech giant says is a “a new class of low-powered, low-cost transmitters that can notify nearby iOS devices of their presence.” In Apple retail stores, it can do things such as informing you of promotional discounts.
By the way, 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.
Finally, AliveCor, which specializes in FDA-cleared personal electrocardiogram (ECG) technology and services, has filed yet another lawsuit against Apple, this time alleging that Apple copied its Apple Watch ECG ideas from them. The company wants a jury trial. You can find more info on AliveCor’s other lawsuits here.
