Apple getting sued from time to time over claims that they infringed upon a patent is pretty normal, and we suppose for a company that huge and resource-rich does make for a pretty tempting target. However it seems that the latest lawsuit could take the cake as a man from Florida by the name of Thomas S. Ross is asking for $10 billion in damages.According to Ross’ lawsuit, he alleges that Apple copied his ideas for iOS devices. He alleges that he came up with the ideas and drawings for similar devices dating back to 1992, way before Apple even released the first-gen iPod. He also applied for a utility patent back in 1992 to protect his ideas, but apparently it was declared abandoned in 1995 when Ross failed to pay the application fees.
According to the patent filing, it describes Ross’ inventions as “a device that could allow one to read stories, novels, news articles, as well as look at pictures, watch video presentations, or even movies, on a flat touch-screen that was back-lit. He further imagined that it could include communication functions, such as a phone and a modem, input/output capability, so as to allow the user to write notes, and be capable of storing reading and writing material utilizing internal and external storage media.”
Given its design, it’s safe to say that it pretty much applies to all phones and tablets these days. On top of asking for $10 billion in damages, Ross is also seeking royalty of up to 1.5% of Apple’s worldwide sales of the infringing devices.
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