Apple is facing yet another patent infringement lawsuit, this time over its websites and iTunes, according to Patently Apple. The plaintiff, Droplets, is accusing Apple of violating US a patent titled System and method for delivering a graphical user interface of remote applications over a thin bandwidth connection. In practice the patent refers to a method of delivering “interactive links for presenting applications,” which Droplets says Apple is using illicitly in iTunes, its main website, its movie trailers page and in other web apps.
Droplets was granted the patent in February 2004. The lawsuit is being handled by the US District Court for Eastern Texas, which companies will often handpick for filing based on its reputation for favoring plaintiffs in patent disputes. Droplets though is actually based in Plano, Texas, making it one of the few plaintiffs with a genuinely local claim.
Apple is now a regular focus of tech industry lawsuits, many of which are similar to Droplets’. The company is likely more worried, though, about its entanglements with major businesses such as HTC and Samsung, many of which it instigated. Apple is thought to using the courts as a weapon against Google’s Android platform, which has become the chief rival to iOS and is threatening to overtake it in some respects.
