Inspired by the battles of Luke Skywalker and company, countless grade schoolers and sci-fi fans have used their voices to mimic the “zverwz” sound of swinging light sabers from the Star Wars films. One inventor, James Shima, went further, obtaining a patent eleven years ago for a “programmable motion-sensitive sound effects device” designed to be built “into the handle of a toy sword.” Shima’s patent was eventually incorporated into toy light sabers and sold to aspiring Jedi knights.
And now it’s been picked up by a patent troll who intends to wield it against pretty much the entire smartphone industry. On Friday, a three-month-old Texas company called Ogma filed a Marshall, Tx., patent infringement suit against Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Palm, HTC, Research in Motion, Nokia, and six other defendants. The suit singles out the iPhone, iPad, Droid, EVO, Pre, Storm, and dozens of other popular devices. It’s quite a zverw-y complaint.
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