Man Claims to Have Invented the iPhone, Sues Apple for $10bn

He believes he's in with a shot.

By Matt Porter

A man named Thomas Ross has claimed he invented the iPhone in 1992, and has now sued Apple for $10 billion.

According to The Guardian, Ross says the iPhone, iPad, and iPod all infringe his invention of an "Electronic Reading Device."

Thomas Ross' drawing of his ERD. (via The Guardian)

Ross says he worked on the design for over a year before filing a patent in November 1992. “I would be at home wanting to read books and it dawned on me that it would be nice to have a device aggregating different functions. It was somewhat cumbersome to carry around different devices for different purposes – the trend at the time,” he said.

Ross never followed through with the design because of a lack of funds. He failed to pay the required fees to protect the ERD, and the US Patent and Trademark Office declared his application abandoned in 1995. In addition, he said "I was never good at going after investors and selling them my idea. I am a quiet man."

Last year, Ross' lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, however he received a reply from Apple's Jeffrey Lasker saying the claims "have no merit."

However, Ross has now filed a lawsuit for $10 billion, and wants Apple to "forfeit the patents derived from his designs."

Lawsuits aren't new to Apple, which has recently been hit with a class-action lawsuit over a Wi-Fi defect, and had to pay out $53 million in 2013 after it refused to repair devices under warranty.

Matt Porter is a freelance writer based in London. Make sure to visit what he thinks is the best website in the world, but is actually just his Twitter page.

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