Altpass LLC is suing Apple with a patent lawsuit for certain security features which include passcodes, password creation, Face ID, and more! Apple has been no stranger to sophisticated security measures but now the question is, did Apple really breach these patents for their security?
Altpass LLC Patent Lawsuit
According to Apple Insider, a non-practicing entity on Wednesday reportedly filed a certain legal broadside directly against Apple. It reportedly claimed that certain iPhone security features which include passcodes as well as other unlock methods infringe on the owned patents. Apple also faced another lawsuit for the MIMO Wireless Technology patent and a few others including its battle with Epic Games and more.
Lodged directly in the whole patent holder-friendly US District Court for the supposed Western District of Texas, the lawsuit coming from Altpass LLC claims that Apple's own iPhone infringes on a few patents. These supposed patents detail methods of creating things like digital signatures which can then be used for user authentication.
Patent 8,429,415 and 7,725,725
Among the supposedly infringed patents are passcode and password creation and even the Face ID, according to the allegations. Altpass is now leveraging the US Patent Nos. 8,429,415 and 7,725,725, intellectual property that was filed for in both 2006 and 2010 respectively. Gary Odom is reportedly credited with the invention of both patents. The properties were later passed from patent holdings firms to another only to end up at Altpass during the early 2020.
The IP covers quite a fairly broad method of creating a certain "signature" like alphanumeric code, passcode, Face ID, and storing it for retrieval using the supposed signature in order to unlock the device. To be more specific, the claims on both the patents actually detail generating a signature by just recording a signal coming from a keyboard, camera, or even some other input mechanism.
Apple iPhone User Guide
The claims noted measurable variations in input as dictated by the supposed user and storing at least a certain part of that data. This particular reference signature is then later matched with the user input for the sole purpose of the authentication purposes.
As proof of the supposedly alleged infringement, Altpass directs the whole court to a section of the Apple iPhone user guide for its iOS 14 which reportedly covers setting or even changing the passcode. The plaintiff reportedly seeks a finding of infringement and also monetary damages in its own lawsuit.
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Altpass Lawsuit Against Google, Panasonic, and More
As of the moment, there is still not that much known about Altpass since the company fails to provide enough background in its filing except that the company operates out of a certain office in Austin, Texas. Over the course of the past few months, the firm actually used the exact same patent stash to file suit against Panasonic and Google.
There were also identical complaints that were reportedly launched at T-Mobile, OnePlus, and Kyocera back in April 2020. This was done just shortly after Altpass had been able to acquire the IP. Another company, MemoryWeb, sues Apple for using yet another patent.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
