VIA Technology accuses Apple of patent infringement, filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC).
The company says the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple TV carry two unlicensed VIA technologies-- specifically a "method and apparatus for double operand load" and an "instruction set for bi-directional conversion and transfer of integer and floating point data."
Why would a x86 microprocessor developer go after Apple? VIA owns around 5000 patents-- hundreds of which covering basic microprocessor technology, obtained through CPU subsidiary Centaur Technology.
The company also has an ongoing license to Intel's x86 instruction set architecture-- the result of another courtroom squabble.
Apple will probably follow Intel's example, and settle the dispute via an undisclosed (large) cash lump and a technology cross-licensing deal-- unless VIA decides to push legal matters further.
