Charter Pacific’s patent infringement action against Apple progressed in the Federal Court on 16 December 2021, with a case management hearing before Justice Stephen Burley.
The case has been brought by Charter’s subsidiary, CPC Patent Technologies, and involves an action for enforcement of two patents which relate to secure access technology involving the use of biometric signatures, such as fingerprint and facial recognition technology. The claim cover’s Apple’s Touch ID and Face ID devices sold in Australia since 2015, including various generations of iPhone, iPad and MacBook devices.
The hearing concerned a number of procedural matters following the filing of Apple’s defence, which as CPC’s counsel Mr. Christian Dimitriadis SC noted, did not engage in any detail with CPC’s claims.
However, it was notable for a comment from Justice Burley that,
“It looks like a very big claim, and by that, I mean not only in terms of the legal issues, but also the value of the claim. If there’s an infringement claim against 61 Apple devices, then it’s likely to be a very substantial claim, and I would propose to treat it as such …,” Justice Burley said.
Charter Pacific’s Executive Chairman Kevin Dart welcomed these observations.
The hearing follows a decision last week by Justice Ball in the New South Wales Supreme Court, which confirmed the Company’s rights over a number of its biometric patents, including patents co-authored by Charter investor Mr. David Murray AO (Charter Pacific Corporation Limited v Securicom (NSW) Pty Limited (No 4)).
“We have commenced proceedings in Australia and the United States in order to protect our rights and to ensure we receive appropriate royalty payments for our patents. At the same time, the Company is moving ahead with its commercial licensing strategy, as reflected in our first major deal in May, and in our most recent deal with Tapplock”, Mr. Dart said.
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About Charter Pacific
Charter Pacific is a diversified investment company with a focus on the global commercialisation of Australian technology. Its market leading technology ensures the digital security of people and businesses around the world through unique and powerful biometric patents. Charter Pacific is an Australian unlisted public company.
About Tapplock and Tapplock one+
Tapplock was started in 2016 in Toronto, Canada and was named Canada’s Top 15 Tech Start-ups by Metabridge and awarded the iF Design Award and CES Innovation Award Nominee in 2018. Its marquee product Tapplock one+ is a cutting-edge smart padlock using fingerprint access with encrypted smartphone-standard fingerprint sensor. Similar size to a regular padlock, the Tapplock one+ is lighter and more secure, but can be unlocked with just a tap.