Another lawsuit appears to have been filed against Apple, which is accused of copying the new Shortcuts app, which the company released in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13.
Virginia-based Aftechmobile has taken Apple to court, claiming that the company infringed on one of its “558 patent” claims. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court Northern District of California.
The company states that Apple's description of the "Shortcuts" application and Claim 5 in its patent show a striking similarity.
Despite the similarity, Apple uses the word "Actions" to describe the custom shortcuts created, while Aftechmobile calls them "pre-coded software components.".
Furthermore, the company is demanding a trial by jury and expects its “fair and reasonable vindication.”.
Apple's Shortcuts app
For those who don't know, Apple has introduced a built-in Shortcuts app, which allows users to create custom shortcuts of their daily tasks, to perform them with greater ease.
The Shortcuts app was previously available in the App Store as a free app from Apple. Before that, it was a app called Workflow, which was acquired by Apple in 2014.
One thing worth noting is that Apple acquired the Workflow app in 2014 and Aftechmobile registered the patent in 2018. This puts the lawsuit in question.
Another thing that raises doubts about the Virginia-based company is that its website displays an error when visited and redirects to another site called Mobirise.net. The founder and CEO of Mobirise.net is Arshad Farooqi, who also happens to be the applicant and inventor of the “558” patent.
Apple has not yet made any official statement regarding the lawsuit.
Very recently, Apple was accused by a company called Corephotonics of stealing from this technology featured on the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max.
