Apple Faces Lawsuit for Allegedly Infringing Camera Patent of Dual Lens Camera Technology
Apple is facing another lawsuit for alleged patent infringement, and this time, it is for the dual lens camera technology that they applied on the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus.
The iPhone maker was recently slammed with a lawsuit anew filed by an Israeli company called Corephotonics. In its website, Corephotonics claimed to be "the pioneer and worldwide market leader of dual camera technologies for mobile devices."
According to MacRumors, Corephotonics is suing because of the patents they filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 2013 to 2016 that include a "high resolution thin multi-aperture imaging systems" (US9538152), a "dual aperture zoom digital camera" (US9185291), a "miniature telephoto lens assembly" (US9568712), and a "miniature telephoto lens assembly" (US9402032) – all of which were focused on the dual camera system found on smartphones and mobile devices.
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Corephotonics reportedly claimed in its lawsuit that Apple copied several things from its patented technology, including the design of its telephoto lens, the way their optical zoom works, and their process for merging photos taken by a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens into one output on the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus to make them look better.
The lawsuit also claimed that before the devices in question were released, Corephotonics suggested that they and Apple could collaborate in developing the smartphones' camera features. Corephotonics executive David Mendlovic was reportedly one of those who reached out to Apple with the possibility of a partnership but was denied.
Reuters quoted part of the complaint that narrated: "Apple's lead negotiator expressed contempt for Corephotonics' patents, telling Dr. Mendlovic and others that even if Apple infringed, it would take years and millions of dollars in litigation before Apple might have to pay something."
MacRumors also suggested that the reason why the iPhone X was excluded from the lawsuit was because the device was only released last week.
However, Apple is also facing a lawsuit filed by a Japanese developer for the Animoji feature exclusive on the iPhone X. The company Emonster claimed it already owned an application with the trademarked name "Animoji" long before the iPhone X was unveiled.
Emonster also told the court that they had called out Apple about the matter before filing the lawsuit, but the latter purportedly ignored them and deliberately took the product's name.
