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Apple Sued For Allowing eBook Readers On The iPhone

March 24, 2009

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Apple has been getting sued quite often lately for claiming certain things about the iPhone's 3G speeds, but today we have an entirely different type of lawsuit to inform you about. MONEC Holding Ltd claims that Apple is unlawfully promoting the iPhone as an eBook reader, infringing on their seven-year-old patent. Now, we don't want to go filling your heads with the idea that Apple isn't perfect, but the Swiss based mobile communications company may have a case.  MONEC filed a patent on January 1, 2002 describing a touch-screen mobile electronic device that is conveniently able to display a single page of a digital book at a time.  The patent goes on to describe even more features that resemble the iPhone's. The lawsuit claims that Apple is promoting the iPhone as an eBook reader by distributing digital book applications through the App Store.  MONEC claims that Apple is "well aware" of the patent infringement. MONEC is seeking monetary compensation for the harm Apple has caused to its business, attorney fees, and an injunction to prevent Apple from further infringement. We are unaware at this point how they could prevent Apple from further infringing on their patent except for not allowing digital book applications to be placed at the App Store, which seems very unlikely. [via AppleInsider]

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