Florida Man Claims He Designed the Concept of the iPhone, Sues Apple for Billions

Oftentimes, Apple is the center of patent infringements and lawsuits due to their products and technology. Most parties claim that Apple has somehow stolen all or part of their design without any compensation. And it’s hard to determine whether these are legitimate claims or simply money-hungry individuals and jealous wannabes that envy Apple’s successes. But this new claim seems just too outlandish to be true.

According to recent claims, a Florida man is stating that Apple blatantly ripped off his idea for the iPhone and the iPad. Resident Thomas Ross states that he came up with the original layout and idea for Apple’s popular mobile and tablet devices all the way back in 1992. According to the court document, he states that he was “first to file a device so designed and aggregated.”

And now Ross believes that Apple owes him money for it: a staggering $10+ billion plus royalty on Apple’s worldwide sales related to the devices.

This is an excerpt straight from the claim. It details what Ross imagined in the form of an ‘Electronic Reading Device’:

“a device that could allow one to read stories, novels, news articles, as well as look at pictures, watch video presentations, or even movies, on a flat touch-screen that was back-lit. He further imagined that it could include communication functions, such as a phone and a modem, input/output capability, so as to allow the user to write notes, and be capable of storing reading and writing material utilizing internal and external storage media.”

However, there’s a bit of a catch to the whole story: the patent was never approved. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Ross never paid his fees and the patent was declared abandoned in 1995.

Ross claims that he is suffering from “great and irreparable injury.” However, the case seems to be a bit bogus and suffers from any real legal foundations. Still, Ross has called for a jury trial; but if anything comes of the claim, Apple will likely settle out of court.

Do you think this case is valid? Let us know in the comments below.