This week, Florida resident Thomas S. Ross sued Apple, claiming that the iPod, iPad and iPhone infringe upon his 1992 "reading device" invention.
According to MacRumors, Ross v. Apple, Inc. lawsuit was filed on Monday, June 27, with the Florida Southern District Court. The court filing claims that, nearly 15 years before the first iPhone, the plaintiff was first to file a hand-drawn "Electronic Reading Device" (ERD).
Ross designed three hand-drawn technical drawings of the device between May 23, 1992 and September 10, 1992. The hand-drawings of the ERD consist primarily of flat rectangular panels with rounded corners.
Ross' device was intended to allow users to read stories and news articles, as well as watch movies and video presentations and look at pictures on a flat back-lit touch-screen.
The Florida inventor has further imagined that the ERD could include communication functions such as a modem and a phone. The input/output capabilities would allow the user to write notes. The envisioned device would also be capable of storing files by using internal and external storage media.
Some of the features included in Ross' device would eventually become standard in smartphones. Among them are the cellular link, a touchscreen, the internal and external storage and photo and video browsing. Some other unusual elements include solar cells, a folding dual-screen design, a 3.5-inch disk drive and a two-part hardware keyboard.
In November 1992, Ross applied for a utility patent to protect his invention. In April 1995, The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has declared the application abandoned after he failed to pay the required application fees. In 2014, Ross filed again to copyright his technical drawings with the U.S. Copyright Office.
According to AppleInsider, Ross is seeking royalties up to 1.5 percent on infringing products in addition to a minimum $10 billion payout. This kind of complaints usually call for a jury trial. However, Apple will likely settle out of court if the case isn't dismissed outright.
