Japanese inventor sued Apple for flick input on iOS and 3D Touch as patent infringement

iOS has a flick input function to smoothly input characters and a 3D Touch function to perform operations different from normal touch operation in response to the strength of the screen touch. Abe Toshiyasu, a Japanese inventor living in Washington state sued Apple, saying that these features infringe on its own patents.

Japanese Entrepreneur Sues Apple Over Key Flicks and 3D Touch on iPhones and iPads - Mac Rumors
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/06/20/apple-lawsuit-3d-touch-key-flicks/

Mr. Abe is an enthusiastic inventor who is devoted to devoting almost all of his life to inventions and has been involved in the development of a new user interface device for the keyboard described in the US 6520699 patent acquired in February 2003 for a great amount of time And it seems they spent their expenses.

The patent No. 6520699 acquired by Mr. Ave contains contents concerning a touch screen device having a plurality of buttons displayed on the screen, and when a user taps a button, a button associated with a plurality of characters or functions It is a mechanism to be displayed. The touch screen can also detect the applied force and the direction of movement, and by moving the tapped finger in the direction of the character or function to be input, it becomes possible to use the input and the function of the desired character I will. The function described in this patent was also watched to be mounted on laptop computers, mobile phones, car steering wheels, etc.

According to Mr. Abe, Apple's patent infringement subject matter includes iPhone 6s ~ iPhone X, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2 ~ iPad mini 4, 9.7 inch iPad and iPad Pro, 10.5 inch iPad Pro It is said that. He also strongly condemns Apple as "Apple supports the development of keyboard applications using third-party flick inputs and 3D Touch through the App Store and is triggering further patent infringement" .

Mr. Abe insisted on Apple's infringement on the patent, "It is not the first warning this time, but informs the patent infringement in writing at the beginning of 2009". At that time, he said he may have talked with Apple's legal counsel on the phone, but he said that he could not solve the problem. After that, Mr. Abe who knew about the appearance of iOS 11 informed Apple again in writing in December 2017 and contacted Apple's lawyer again, but the situation did not improve .

In response to claims by Dr. Ave, comments from Apple were not announced at the time of article posting.