Apple settles patent lawsuit with SimpleAir

IDG News Service - SimpleAir in Texas said it had settled its patent infringement litigation against Apple and entered into a confidential license agreement by which Apple had taken a license to its patents.

Federal court records in Texas show that Apple and SimpleAir filed Thursday before the court a joint motion stating that they had entered a confidential settlement and license agreement dated May 16, and asking for an order dismissing with prejudice all claims and counterclaims asserted between the two parties. The court granted the motion.

The patents are related to the system and method for transmission of data, and contact alerts for unconnected users.

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.

A similar joint motion by Research In Motion and SimpleAir was granted by the court on April 23.

SimpleAir, which describes itself as an inventor-owned technology company, said it reached the principal terms of a settlement with Apple at the courthouse shortly before the case was set to go on trial on April 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.

SimpleAir filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, Research In Motion, and other companies including Facebook on September 23, 2009.

The four patents asserted by SimpleAir in its complaint of September, 2009 are U.S. patents numbers 6,021,433, 7,035,914, 6,735,614, and 6,167,426, and can be viewed on the U.S Patent and Trademark Office website.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com