Dual-camera iPhones accused of patent infringement

Israeli-based camera technology company Corephotonics has filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that current iPhones are using dual-camera tech that infringes several of its patents.

The Israeli company has filed several lawsuits over the years and the latest one is another attempt to sort things out. According to Corephotonics, the two companies have been in negotiations since 2012. Throughout the years, Corephotonics has discussed the dual-camera modules in detail with Apple's engineering team.

What's more, Apple was granted access to the five-element telephoto lens back in 2012, test boards and lenses in 2014 and a black box simulation files for lens designs along with software simulator and system prototypes. The lawsuit alleges that this was cruicial for developing the camera modules in today's iPhones.

Then Apple launched the iPhone 7 Plus in 2016 without striking a deal with Corephotonics beforehand. In fact, a high-ranking official at Corephotonics reached out to Apple once more to resume the negotiations of a partnership a month before the launch but with no success.

The camera technology firm then filed its first patent infringement lawsuit in November 2017 after examining the camera module of the iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 8 Plus claiming that the zoom technology used in those phones relies on Corephotonics' patents.

A second lawsuit followed in April 2018 targeting the iPhone X while today's lawsuit is about the iPhone XS and XS Max claiming that Apple is well aware of the patent infringements.

It's interesting to note that a Samsung acquired Corephotonics in a deal worth $150 million, but none of the companies issued an official statement of the acquisition.

Via