The US International Trade Commission will investigate the patent claims made against Apple by Elan Microelectronics, which claims that the iPhone maker's products infringe on its touchscreen technology.

Elan has said that Apple's iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook and Magic Mouse violate its patent No. 5,825,352, which covers "touch-sensitive input devices with the ability to detect the simultaneous presence of two or more fingers". The Taiwanese company launched a patent against Apple last month over its claims, and it has separately asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to forbid Apple from importing all five devices into the US.

The ITC agreed on Monday that the complaint warrants an investigation, but said in a statement that it "has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case".

An ITC administrative law judge will begin by scheduling and holding an evidentiary hearing and will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337 of the US's Tariff Act of 1930, as alleged by Elan, the commission said. That decision will be subject to review by the ITC.

The body did not indicate a time frame for its first moves in the matter, but said it will make a final determination in the investigation "at the earliest practicable time".

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

By: DocMemory
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