Apple Sued Over iPhone Caller ID

Inventor takes the company to court, claiming the caller ID function infringes his patent.

The iPhone can’t keep out of the news, but this time it’s not for the right reasons.   Massachusetts- based inventor Romek Figa has filedsuit against Apple over the caller ID function in the phone. He claims to have patented the procedure that identifies a caller based on phone number in 1990, andhis suit in fact refers to “the 496 patent,” according to Vnunet.   Figa says he talked to Apple last year, suggesting they pay a fee for usinghis patented work. The company refused.   "Apple’s infringement has been and continues to be willful and deliberate. Apple will continue to engage in such acts unless enjoined by thiscourt," the lawsuit reads.   Figa is requesting a figure for damages, and three times that amount for the deliberate infringement of intellectual property rights.