A company by the name of Hybrid Audio LLC has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, HTC, Exedea and Dell in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit claims that Apple's iPod Nano, iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Pro and the iTunes service are in violation of Hybrid Audio's patent which is supposedly related to the MP3 standard.
The Alleged Patent Infringement In-Part
According to court documents, Hybrid Audio holds all right, title, and interest in and to US Patent RE40,281 ("the '281 Patent" or "the Patent"), entitled "Signal Processing Utilizing a Tree-Structured Array." It should be noted that the patent in question lists Aware Inc., as the assignee. The connection between Avid and Hybrid Audio, if any, is unknown.
The Hybrid Audio patent relates to data transmission systems, and more particularly, to an improved multi-carrier transmission system ".Iadd." Their invention further relates to audio compression and decompression systems ".Iaddend."
Hybrid Audio's complaint states that they believe that Apple has infringed and is infringing on their '281 Patent, by engaging in acts constituting infringement under 35 U.S.C. ยง 271, including, without limitation, making, using, selling, offering to sell, and/or importing in or into the United States, without authority, devices and services, including, but not limited to, the iPod nano, iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Pro, and iTunes service that contain or use hardware and/or software for processing audio information in accordance with the MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) standard.
On information and belief, Apple has contributed to and will continue to contribute to infringement of the '281 Patent, in this District and elsewhere within the United States. The underlying acts of direct infringement are performed by users of Apple devices and services, including, but not limited to, the iPod nano, iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Pro, and iTunes.
On information and belief, Apple has induced and will continue to induce infringement of the '281 Patent, in this District and elsewhere within the United States. The underlying acts of direct infringement are performed by users of Apple devices and services, including, but not limited to, the iPod nano, iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Pro, and iTunes.
As part of their compensation, Hybrid Audio is seeking a judgment and order requiring each Defendant named in the lawsuit to pay Plaintiff damages including treble damages for willful infringement.
The Civil Cover Sheet
McKool Smith, P.C. of Texas filed the complaint with the court on behalf of Hybrid Audio LLC on December 21, 2010. Hybrid Audio LLC seeks a trial by jury. The presiding Judge in this case is Judge Leonard Davis. Whether Hybrid Audio LLC is associated with Hybrid Audio Technologies, LLC is unknown at this time.
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