Swiss company seeks ban on Apple iPhone and Apple TV over alleged patent infringement

Who said that the Swiss are neutral? Based in Switzerland, SmartData is seeking a ban on the Apple iPhone and Apple TV in the country saying that when the devices are used together via the Apple remote app, it results in an infringement on the company's "modular computer" patent. While the small Swiss company doesn't do any business in the area, it filed the suit against Apple in the Northern District Court of California on Monday, alleging that the Cupertino based tech titan infringed on a patent dubbed "Zukero,"which covers wireless computing.

The patent involved is U.S. Patent Number 7,158,757, which was filed in 2001 and granted in 2007, just one week before Apple TV was introduced. The patent covers a wireless system made up of  a pocket-sized central unit that can "store data and execute programs" with a second input device that can connect wirelessly and has an interface to communicate with a remote network, and lastly, a television screen. By 2008, SmartData had received a patent for "Zukero" in the  U.S., China and Europe. The filing accuses Apple of knowing about the "757" patent when it released the products

SmartData said in the filing that it met with Apple in  July 2004 about the patent application and the pair tried to work out a licensing agreement until mid-2006 when communication between the two ended, except for two unsuccessful attempts made by the Swiss firm to contact Apple in 2006 and in 2007.

source: AppleInsider