Developer Wants Probe of Motorola Phones

(CN) – Several Motorola mobile phones infringe on patented “tactile feedback” technology, Immersion Corp. claims in a lawsuit with the U.S. International Trade Commission.      The complaint asks the commission to launch an investigation of Motorola’s use of haptics software in** its** Droid, Atrix, Admiral and Xprt smartphones.     Haptic effects, including vibration, sounds and light, are common in devices that use touch screens with virtual controls to provide the user with the sense that they have actually pressed a button, flipped a switch or typed a letter.     Immersion says Motorola is infringing on six of its haptic patents. The patents in question govern the positioning of menus and virtual buttons in response to cursor placement, association of haptic effects with images, and interaction of haptic effects from multiple applications running simultaneously.     The complaint asks the USITC to ban the import of the smartphones if an administrative law judge determines they infringe on Immersion’s patents.     Immersion is represented by Alexander Hadjis, Brian Busey, Harold McElhinny and Bryan Wilson of Morrison & Foerster in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; and Palo Alto, Calif.