Law firm Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro (JMBM) announced today that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit on behalf of EMG Technology, LLC against computer giant Apple Inc. in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in the Tyler Division. In the suit, EMG accuses Apple of infringing on U.S. Patent Number 7,441,196, which cites how Apple's popular iPhone handset navigates the Internet.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages against Apple for the accused patent infringement.

The patent, held by EMG Managing Member Elliot Gottfurch, is one of five U.S. patents for navigating the Internet on mobile devices and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Issued on October 21, 2008, the '196 patent includes 76 claims, which are supported by specifications filed in 1999 by Mr. Gottfurcht and others.

Where the functionality of the technology is concerned, JMBM partner and IP expert Stanley Gibson stated that the "'196 patent claims cover the display of Internet content reformatted from HTML to XML on mobile devices -- the industry standard currently displayed by the iPhone. Additional patent claims include the technology for manipulating a region of the screen for zooming and scrolling.

"Web sites are just beginning to develop their mobile sister sites for fast and easy navigation," says Mr. Gibson. "For example, to access NBC on a computer the URL is NBC.com. For the mobile site on the iPhone, the URL would be m.NBC.com. The '196 patent covers the simplified interface of reformatted mobile content to provide optimum viewing and navigation with single touches on a small screen."

Representatives for Apple and EMG LLC were unavailable for comment.