(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Lawsuit claims that the company's touch screen products are in patent violation.

April 8, 2009 - Steve Jobs, innovator, genius, keynote speaker…..thief? Looks like Mr. Jobs and Apple will have to defend against that claim, as a new lawsuit filed against the company by Elan Microelectronics alleges that Apple is in infringement violation of two of Elan's touch screen patents.

The suit, which was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, states that a number of Apple products, including the MacBook, iPhone and iPod Touch, use technology that clearly infringes on existing Elan patents. Elan spokesman Dennis Liu says that the two have been in licensing talks for years, but now claims: "We couldn't find a common viewpoint with Apple, so we decided we had to take action."

It hasn't been revealed yet exactly what penalties or remedial action Elan is hoping for out of the lawsuit, but some analysts believe Apple needs to take the case seriously, as Elan has already won a small victory against Synaptics, another electronics company, for one of the patents listed in the Apple suit.

"From their previous victory in the case with Synaptics, I think they should be quite confident," said Jessica Chang, an analyst with Credit Suisse. "Elan believes they have a unique edge with this patent, and they want to send a signal to the market".

So far there has been no comment out of the Apple camp, but considering the huge success of their touch screen products, you can only imagine how big the dollar signs are in the eyes of Elan. Stay tuned to IGN for more on this story as it develops.

What a baby.