Iphone patent man has form

THE BLOKE trying to sue Apple for nicking his idea for an iconic iPoney keyboard has been recently sentenced to 51 months for healthcare fraud, according to Information Week.

Peter Boesen is a surgeon who runs an outfit called SP Technologies. It has been suing lots of companies for nicking his patents including LG Electronics and Canon.

Now Apple's touch screen has attracted his attention. He claims the iPhone's touch-based keyboard violates a patent the company received in 2004. The patent, filed under US patent number 6,784,873 B1, describes a "method and medium for a computer readable keyboard display incapable of user termination" and lists Boesen as the inventor.

But Boesen is currently on bail while his lawyers work out an appeal to his prison sentence for healthcare fraud.

He was sentenced to prison in May following a conviction on defrauding Iowa's Medicare and Medicaid programs by filing false claims. He was also ordered to repay the state and private insurers more than $900,000.

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