In the past month, lawsuits have been for explosions and eBook infringements. Now, Apple is being sued over the technology used for the touchscreen of iPhones.

Chip design company Elan Microelectronics of Taiwan has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Fransisco. Through the claim, it has been listed that two of the companies patents have been infringed upon through the developments of the MacBook, iPhone and iPod Touch. Added to this includes two years worth of negotiations with Cupertino a Californian firm to work out a licensing arrangement, which have failed.

The same firm has brought forward claims before. In 2006 against Synaptics (who countersued) saw an agreement between both firms a cross-licensing deal after Elan had won a preliminary court injunction. The current patents in question involve a "multiple fingers contact sensing method for emulating mouse buttons and mouse operations on a touch sensor pad." The Taiwanese firm has been referenced to saying that it wants to receive royalties and a licensing agreement that would also cover future offerings from Apple. Jill Tan, a spokeswoman for the American firm, said that Apple would not comment on the lawsuit.

[via The New York Times]