Tag: sapphire substrates

Dow Jones steps into Apple secrecy row

Posted on October 29, 2014 by - News

scalesAn agreement between Apple and its supplier GT Advanced (GTA) to seal documents relating to the latter company filed for bankruptcy earlier this month has been challenged by a third party,

GTA supplied sapphire substrates to Apple, an important ingredient of screens for smartphones but filed for protection under US regulation Chapter 11 earlier this month.

Dow Jones asked a US court to deny a request made by both Apple and GTA to keep some documents relating to their relationship under seal.  It said such a move offended principles of the US constitution.

Apple had threatened GTA with a law suit for over $1 billion alleging damages.

In cases of banruptcy in the USA there are only a few conditions which would allow documents to be made unavailable to the public and Dow Jones claims no documents in this case qualified under those rules.

Apple sued by sapphire firm

Posted on October 10, 2014 by - News

blue-appleStyle company Apple has had a writ from Taiwanese firm Tera Xtal, claiming it has infringed its patents.

According to the Taipei Times, Apple used patented technology to put sapphire substrates into cameras used in iPhones. Apple, of course, doesn’t manufacture these things but uses a supply chain to make them.

A company representative told the newspaper that it had taken action against Apple because of its large sales volume, but that this won’t be the end of the matter.

She said that it’s entirely possible that lawyers may be put on other manufacturers’ cases, including giant Korean companies Samsung and LG.

Tera Xtal wants to extract $9.88 million in damages if it’s proved that Apple has in fact breached its patents.

The company is also contemplating taking legal action against firms in other jurisdictions.