Long Corner Consumer Electronics is suing Apple for patent infringement with patent 7,808,483 titled "Device, and Method for Extending a Stroke of a Computer Pointing Device."

Long Corner Consumer Electronics' formal complaint states that "Upon information and belief, Defendant has infringed and continues to directly infringe one or more claims of the '483 Patent, including at least claim 1, by making, using, importing, selling and/or offering for sale computer input devices (which may include, by way of example and without limitation, tablets and/or smartphones) covered by one or more claims of the '483 Patent, including without limitation the Apple iPad (the "Accused Instrumentalities"). Generally for descriptive purposes, and without limitation in any way, characteristics of the Accused Instrumentalities include a sensor (for example, an accelerometer and/or a gyroscope), an input element (for example, a touch screen), and auto-rotation capability with the ability to inhibit such auto-rotation."

It's interesting to note that words "accelerometer," "gyroscope" and "auto-rotation" that are found in the Plaintiff's complaint are nowhere to be found in the Plaintiff's patent.

The patent infringement case presented in today's report was filed in the Texas Eastern District Court, Marshall Office. The Presiding Judge in this case is noted as being Judge Rodney Gilstrap.

In the last 24 hours, Long Corner Electronics has sued several other companies in separate lawsuits including Kyocera, Lenovo, ViewSonic and others which is a telltale sign of a patent troll in action.

A Note about Patent Trolls

A 2011 study showed that Patent Trolls cost tech companies $29 Billion and a 2012 study made the case that patent trolling was out of control. To date, Apple remains the #1 Target of Patent Trolls.

The FTC is now examining the practices of patent trolls or Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) which are firms with a business model based primarily on purchasing patents and then attempting to generate revenue by asserting the intellectual property against persons who are already practicing the patented technologies. The FTC is conducting the study in order to further one of the agency's key missions—to examine cutting-edge competition and consumer protection topics that may have a significant effect on the U.S. economy.

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