Bluebonnet Telecommunications, L.L.C. has filed a complaint for patent infringement against Apple, Inc. (complaint via PriorSmart) In separate suits, Bluebonnet has also targeted HTC America, Samsung Electronics America, Sony Ericsson, RIM, Sharp, Nokia, Pantech, LG electronics, Motorola Mobility, HP, Dell, and Google.

The patent in suit is U.S. 5,485,511, which was assigned at the time of issue to Siemens Rolm Communications. The complaint does not identify particular claims as being infringed, but alleges direct and indirect infringement.

Various blogs are identifying the patent as covering "call forwarding," since that is the feature mentioned in the complaint. The claims, however, relate generally to feature activation, and, in the case of claim 12, display of a list of features assigned to the telephone.

The plaintiff's focus on call-forwarding might relate to the iPhone's ability to display call forwarding status via an icon:

 

For reference, claim 12 reads as follows:

12. A method for determining which telephony features are assigned to a telephone within a telephone network having a central switch and a plurality of available telephony features, the telephone having a display, said method comprising the steps of:

placing a telephone call from the telephone to a predetermined telephone number through the central switch;

sending a plurality of feature activation request signals to the central switch, each of said feature activation request signals designating a telephone feature;

receiving feature status signals corresponding to each of said feature activation request signals from the switch, said feature status signals indicating whether a telephony feature corresponding to each of said feature activation request signals is assigned to the telephone;

generating a list of features assigned to the telephone from said feature status signals received from the switch; and

displaying said list of features assigned to the telephone on the display.

Via Reuters:

Teksler, most recently spent four years at Apple as head of Patent Licensing & Strategy. Prior to Apple, he spent 16 years at Hewlett-Packard, most recently as a co-founder of HP's Intellectual Property Licensing Business. He also held a variety of senior management roles in research & development, marketing and general management. As a 20-year veteran of Silicon Valley, he has acquired extensive experience in commercializing technologies and Intellectual Property. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Davis.

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3	D676,437		Electronic device
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5	8,381,194		Methods and apparatuses for selective code coverage
6	8,381,191		Intention based application customization
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8	8,381,125		Device and method for resizing user interface content while maintaining an aspect ratio via snapping a perimeter to a gridline
9	8,381,122		Multi-dimensional application environment
10	8,381,107		Adaptive audio feedback system and method
11	8,381,101		Supporting platform-independent typesetting for documents
12	8,381,041		Program counter (PC) trace
13	8,380,991		Hash function based on polymorphic code
14	8,380,972		Parallelizing multiple boot images with virtual machines
15	8,380,959		Memory management system and method
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17	8,380,753		Reconstruction of lists in a document
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19	8,380,507		Systems and methods for determining the language to use for speech generated by a text to speech engine
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26	8,379,098		Real time video process control using gestures
27	8,379,058		Methods and apparatuses to arbitrarily transform windows
28	8,379,039		Reformatting content with proper color-region conversion
29	8,378,972		Keyboard with increased control of backlit keys
30	8,378,958		White point control in backlights
31	8,378,859		Memory compression technique with low latency per pixel
32	8,378,857		Illumination of input device
33	8,378,797		Method and apparatus for localization of haptic feedback
34	8,376,789		Jack assemblies with cylindrical contacts
35	8,376,776		Active electronic media device packaging
36	8,375,767		Mounted shock sensor

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PAT. NO.		Title
1	D676,058		Display screen or portion thereof with icon
2	D676,019		Electronic device
3	8,375,458		System and method for authenticating code executing on computer system
4	8,375,369		Run-time code injection to perform checks
5	8,375,319		Progress indicator for loading dynamically-sized contents
6	8,375,312		Classifying digital media based on content
7	8,375,293		Method and apparatus for defining documents
8	8,375,112		Synchronization methods and systems
9	8,374,825		Personal items network, and associated methods
10	8,374,815		Self-calibrating test system
11	8,374,775		Adaptive sensor-based activity classification
12	8,374,730		Methods and apparatuses for dynamic thermal control
13	8,374,650		Methods for optimal collaborative MIMO-SDMA
14	8,374,630		Method and apparatus for determining the location of a wireless client device on a wireless network
15	8,374,378		Portable computer speaker grill structures
16	8,374,341		Hash function using a cue sports game process
17	8,374,284		Universal decoder
18	8,374,014		Rejuvenation of analog memory cells
19	8,373,729		Kickback compensation techniques
20	8,373,714		Virtualization of graphics resources and thread blocking
21	8,373,655		Adaptive acceleration of mouse cursor
22	8,373,610		Microslot antennas for electronic devices
23	8,373,549		Tactile feedback in an electronic device
24	8,373,470		Modular programmable delay line blocks for use in a delay locked loop
25	8,373,355		Brightness control of a status indicator light
26	8,372,502		Structures for containing liquid materials and maintaining part alignment during assembly operations
27	8,372,495		Electronic device enclosure using sandwich construction