Boston University Sues Apple Over Gallium Nitride Thin Film PatentApple has been sued by Boston University over a patent for gallium nitride films that the University alleges is used in the iPhone 5, iPad and MacBook Air, amongst other products. The Boston Herald first reported on the lawsuit. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, is for a patent awarded to a BU professor for which the university owns the rights. U.S. Patent 5,686,738, titled "Highly Insulating Monocrystalline Gallium Nitride Thin Film" is related to a particular manufacturing process for LEDs and other semiconductor devices. The lawsuit does not specify what inside Apple's products is alleged to be infringing, just noting Apple products in general. Boston University has sued a number of other companies over the same patent in recent months, including Samsung [PDF]. The initial filing is embedded below. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • Snuglet Kickstarter Project Aims to Secure Loose MagSafe 2 Cables • iOS 7 Installs Hit All-Time High for Beta Software • Apple Releases Security Update 2013-003 for OS X Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion • Southwest Airlines and DISH Launch Free In-Flight TV • Best Buy May Begin Selling Pebble Smart Watch This Weekend [Updated] • Microsoft Updates OneNote for iPhone and iPad With Improved Consistency • Apple France Targeted by Regulators Over Treatment of Resellers, App Store Lock-In • OS X Mavericks Adds Auto-Renew Subscriptions for Mac App Store
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/03/boston-university-sues-apple-over-gallium-nitride-thin-film-patent/
