Apple sued over OS X Fast Boot feature

Back to Mac? Back to court, more like
Back to Mac? Back to court, more like

No rest for Apple's lawyers, with yet another patent infringement case filed against the company, this time relating to Mac OS X's fast boot feature.

The patent, which relates to the quick start-up of the OS, is owned by a company called Operating Systems Solutions (OSS), but the original owner that the patent was granted to was LG Electronics.

The patent involves "a method for fast booting a computer system" comprising of several specific steps.

It's very likely that the OSS suit is simply a case of patent trolling – companies bringing a case against a competitor despite having no real intention to make use of the technology themselves, just hoping to cash in.

Trolled

But the existence of LG somewhere along the line is what makes it interesting; LG is one of the few manufacturers that aren't currently directly embroiled in a patent dispute with Apple.

The company is a staunch Android supporter, having enjoyed reasonable success with its LG Optimus line of Android-running smartphones and tablets; in this free and easy patent suing time, it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that this lawsuit could be a stealth attack on LG's part.

But at this point, there's no evidence to suggest that LG is involved in the lawsuit in any way, other than having once owned the patent.

Apple is currently fighting off and launching patent lawsuits against Samsung, HTC and Google.

From Patently Apple

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.