Lawsuit Filed over iPhone Browser

EMG Technology LLC, a Los Angeles-based holding company, claims that Apple has infringed upon a recently issued patent because of the way their iPhone navigates the Web. U.S. Patent No. 7,441,196, issued on October 21, describes a method and apparatus of simplified navigation on the screen of a wireless device.

Stanley Gibson, a partner in the law firm handling the case against Apple, has stated that the patent claims cover the display of Internet content reformatted from HTML to XML on mobile devices as well as the technology used to manipulate a selected region of the screen for scrolling and zooming. The crux of EMG's argument, and the basis for the lawsuit, is that these technologies are currently being utilized by the popular iPhone and its Safari browser.

"Web sites are just beginning to develop their mobile sister sites for fast and easy navigation," says Gibson. "For example, to access NBC on a computer the URL is NBC.com. For the mobile site on the iPhone, the URL would be m.NBC.com. The '196 patent covers the simplified interface of reformatted mobile content to provide optimum viewing and navigation with single touches on a small screen."