Apple’s (News - Alert) FaceTime video chat app is at the center of a new patent infringement lawsuit, brought by ITUS subsidiary Secure Web Conference Corp.
The company alleges that FaceTime (News - Alert) infringes on Secure Web's patented, key-based Web conferencing encryption technology, according to the suit, which was filed in New York.
"Our company was a pioneer in developing and patenting encryption technologies that were originally used in devices sold to the U.S. military," said ITUS president and CEO, Robert Berman. "We recognized the monetization potential of these patents when we joined the company, and this lawsuit is the next step in realizing that potential."
Apple's FaceTime was launched in 2010, and is now comes native on literally tens of millions of devices, including all iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches since then, and all Mac desktop and laptop computers running OSX or later.
Secure Web has licensed the same encryption patents to Logitech (News - Alert) for its LifeSize Web conferencing service, and also has a patent infringement lawsuit pending against Microsoft concerning Skype video chat and the Microsoft Lync Web conferencing feature for enterprises.
ITUS is engaged in development, acquisition, licensing, and enforcement of patented technologies that are either owned or controlled by the company or one of its wholly owned subsidiaries. In all, the company owns or controls nine patent portfolios. In addition to the key-based Web conferencing encryption, these include encrypted mobile communication, paper electrophoretic display, an Internet telephonic gateway, j-channel window frame construction, loyalty conversion systems, micro-electromechanical systems display, nano field emission display and VPN multicast communications.
The company recently changed its name to ITUS from CopyTele (News - Alert); In Greek mythology, Itus was the god of protection (and in this case, patent protection—get it?).
Apple has not yet released a statement on the litigation.
Edited by Maurice Nagle