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Via files patent suit against Apple, iPhone

Taiwan-based Via Technologies sues Apple for patent infringement in regard to Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple TV products and associated software.

Edward Moyer Senior Editor
Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
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  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
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Via Technologies has sued Apple for patent infringement in regard to Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple TV products and associated software, Via said today in a statement.

The patents involved cover microprocessor functionality in the above mentioned products, Via said, singling out U.S. Patent No. 6253312, "method and apparatus for double operand load," and U.S. Patents Nos. 6253311 and 6754810, "instruction set for bi-directional conversion and transfer of integer and floating point data."

Taiwan-based Via bills itself as "a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms." Today's patent complaint was filed with the United States International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court of Delaware.

"Via has built up an extensive IP portfolio consisting of over 5,000 patents as a result of significant investments in...research and development," Via CEO Wenchi Chen said in the statement. "We are determined to protect our interests and the interests of our stockholders when our patents are infringed upon."

Apple did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment by publication time.

This is the latest legal salvo aimed at Apple in recent months, the company is currently involved in a patent spat with Samsung over Apple's iOS devices. The struggle includes lawsuits in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Korea and has led to a temporary ban on Samsung selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Germany.

Patents, of course, have long provided a busy battleground for tech companies, which seek to file as many patent claims as possible, to protect themselves from suits as well as come out stronger in settlements.