FaceTime application: Apple faces lawsuit in China

Within weeks of settling a high-profile dispute over its iPad trademark, US high-tech giant Apple now faces a lawsuit by a man in Taiwan over its FaceTime application which he claims is a violation of his patent.

The plaintiff, identified as Lee, claims technology used in the video-calling application violates his patent.

A spokesman for Zhenjiang Intermediate People's Court in China's Jiangsu province said on Tuesday it has taken the case on file.

The case calls for Apple to cease the violation but does not specify compensation, Shen, a publicity official at the court was quoted by the state-run China Daily.

She said the plaintiff discovered the violation after purchasing an iPhone in Zhenjiang, and decided to file the case with a local court.

Apple has been notified of

the case, Shen added.

According to the indictment, Lee claims authorities on the mainland granted his utility model patent on 'voice network personal digital assistant' technology on April 28, 2004, with a valid period of 10 years, Yangtze Evening News reported.

The indictment said his patent includes a wireless communication module, a flash memory that stores codes of network voice service, as well as a personal digital assistant that connects the communication module and memory technologies very similar to those used by FaceTime.

Apple's spokeswoman in Beijing could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

FaceTime, which was released by Apple in 2010, is available on the company's iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iMac and MacBook.

The case against Apple comes close on the heels of it settling a dispute over iPad for $60 million to a Taiwanese firm Proview Shenzhen.