Elan denies settlement in lawsuit against Apple
updated 12:05 pm EST, Wed March 10, 2010
Comes as Apple claims multi-touch rights
Elan Microelectronics is denying rumors that it has settled a patent lawsuit directed against Apple, according to a Taiwanese news site. The case was originally launched in April of last year, and accuses Apple of violating two multi-touch patents by way of the iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook. The settlement would allegedly be worth $70 million, but Elan insists that the issue is still in front of the US' International Trade Commission.
Apple may have strong incentive to kill the Elan lawsuit as soon as possible. The former recently launched its own lawsuit against HTC, accusing the phone maker of violating 20 patents, including ones related to multi-touch. The Elan case could theoretically jeopardize claims of having proprietary multi-touch technology.
