SP Technologies has sued Apple for infringement on a patent that SP filed in August 2000. SP Technologies, a Florida company, is seeking a permanent injunction against the Mac-maker. SP also seeks damages and attorney fees.

SP's patent, which was awarded in August 2004, is for a "method and medium for computer readable keyboard display incapable of user termination." The document describes software that allows users to input directions on a virtual keyboard that cannot be minimized or closed. That description sounds much like the iPhone keyboard.

"Apple is bumping up against intellectual property portfolios of other companies that have been in the area perhaps longer than Apple," said Ilan Barzilay, a member of the Litigation Practice Group at Wolf, Greenfield, & Sacks PC. "When you stick your head out, everyone notices. The iPhone is huge, so people who have patent portfolios that may not necessarily attract a whole lot attention, they look at a big product launch and go after them."

Touch-Screen Phenomenon

Indeed, the release of the iPhone has put touch screens into the spotlight, but the demand for this technology was already growing rapidly even before Apple joined the party. Market research company iSuppli predicts that global revenue for the eight leading touch-screen technologies will rise to $4.4 billion by 2012, up from $2.4 billion in 2006.

Beyond the iPhone and other consumer devices, modern ATMs offer touch-screen displays. Then there's Microsoft 's Surface, a new technology that turns an ordinary tabletop into a dynamic surface that lets users interact with all forms of digital content through natural gestures and touch. Surface is making its way into the hotel and restaurant markets.

"Demand for touch-screen displays is being driven primarily by the mobile-phone and consumer-electronics industries -- specifically portable game consoles, personal digital assistants, and portable navigation devices," Jennifer Colegrove, a senior analyst for display technology and strategy at iSuppli, said in a statement.

"However," Colegrove went on to say, "as the market matures, iSuppli believes touch-screen displays will find a role in nearly every aspect of electronics life, from planes, to automobiles, to machine-control systems, to home appliances."

Back to the Patent

SP Technologies has filed patent suits before. The company has sought claims against Canon, LG Electronics, and Kyocera. Apple has not yet formally responded to the SP suit and was not immediately available for comment on the claims that its infringement was "willful and deliberate."

"Apple has been very aggressive in pursuing protection in this particular area of technology," Barzilay said. "But just because Apple sought protection doesn't mean that someone didn't beat them to the punch on certain features."

Barzilay also said he is not surprised about SP's suit, and noted that he expects new lawsuits to emerge as the iPhone goes through continual iterations.

"We'll have to wait and see what kinds of technologies and features that Apple puts in upcoming versions of the iPhone that come up on the radar screen of intellectual property owners," he said. "But it's too soon to tell if this is a legitimate claim."