St. Claire Intellectual Property Consultants today filed suit against Apple for infringement on patent No. 5,138,459, entitled "Electronic Still Video Camera with Direct Personal Computer Compatible Digital Format Output."
St Claire Intellectual Property contends that the patent was issued on Aug. 1, 1992, and that Apple's iPhone camera is the source of the infringement.
St. Claire contends that by its sale of digital cameras in any of its products, Apple has infringed on what is apparently a broad patent. St. Claire is asking that Apple pay damages for the infringement.
There was no immediate comment from Apple on the matter.
While St. Claire is a relatively unknown entity, it has collected settlements from big names over the past 20 years. According to a complaint filed with the Delaware District Court, St Claire has recovered damages over infringement on the same patent from the likes of Sony ($25 million), Canon ($34.7 million) and Fuji ($3 million). Other companies, such as Samsung, and Eastman Kodak, which also were sued, have since entered into agreements to license the patents-in-suit.