Typhoon Touch accuses TabletKiosk, others of patent violations
Typhoon Touch is working its way down the tablet PC food chain.
After suing Dell and Motion Computing for allegedly infringing on two of its patents for portable computers with touch-screen technology, Typhoon, and licensing partner and co-plaintiff Nova Mobility Systems, said Tuesday they are targeting three more potential infringers: Xplore Technologies, Electrovaya, and Sand Dune Ventures, which makes tablet PCs under the brand TabletKiosk.
Typhoon Touch says the Sahara TufTab i310XT tablet PC is one of several PCs that violates two of its portable touch-screen patents.
(Credit: TabletKiosk)Typhoon specifically cites Xplore's iX104C series of tablet PCs, Electrovaya's Scribbler SC4000 tablet, and four of TabletKiosk's ruggedized tablets. Typhoon, a Seattle-based firm that creates and acquires patents, has only licensed its patents on portable touch-screen computers to Nova Mobility. The two companies have asked the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas for unspecified damages and an injunction on the sales of the computers Typhoon says are in violation of its patents.
A TabletKiosk representative said the company couldn't talk about the lawsuit, and neither Electrovaya nor Xplore could be reached for immediate comment.
The suit against Dell and its Latitude XT tablet PC is still ongoing, but Typhoon settled out of court with Motion Computing last month.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
