Skip to main content

Apple sued for alleged trademark infringement tied to animoji feature on iPhone X

apple iphone x hands on review
Jeremy Kaplan/Digital Trends
Apple is set to go through yet another lawsuit. The company has been sued by a Japanese firm, Emonster kk, which alleges that Apple stole the name “animoji” for the new animated emoji feature on the iPhone X. According to Emonster kk, it holds the U.S. trademark for the term “animoji,” and says that Apple’s use of the term is a “textbook case” of trademark infringement.

The animoji feature itself basically uses the new front-facing camera technology to map out the user’s face and apply facial movements to animate a character. It was shown off as a feature that could be included in Snapchat, and will debut on the iPhone X when the phone launches in November.

Recommended Videos

The story first broke in a report from Reuters, and Apple has declined to comment.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Emonster kk actually launched an app called Animoji in 2014, and a trademark was registered for the name of that app. According to the company, Apple had full knowledge of the app because it was actually available for download in the App Store. It will be seeking an unspecified amount in damages and a court order aimed at blocking Apple from using the term while the lawsuit is pending.

Apart from the Animoji feature, the iPhone X is hailed as being Apple‘s most innovative phone in the past few years. For starters, it finally offers wireless charging, and while many Android phones have offered wireless charging for years, Apple adopting it should help push the technology to a much higher level of availability. Of course, the $999 base price tag could be a little problematic for many would-be buyers. Despite that, however, anticipation for the iPhone X has apparently resulted in someone lackluster iPhone 8 sales — which was to be expected.  On top of that, Apple is said to be dealing with some serious stock issues. When the phone does finally launch in November, it’s likely that it will go out of stock pretty quickly.

We’ll have to wait and see what the outcome of the animoji lawsuit is, but we’ll update this article as we get more information.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
Visual Intelligence has made the Camera Control on my iPhone 16 worth using
Using Visual Intelligence on an iPhone 16 Pro showing ChatGPT answer.

One of the big selling points of the iPhone 16 hardware is the Camera Control button. It’s a small physical button on the bottom right of the frame that also has some capacitive capabilities. With the initial launch of iOS 18, a single press launches your camera app of choice, and you can do half presses and sliding gestures to adjust camera settings. It’s a neat idea, but it has some flaws that prevent it from being a great shutter button.

But now we have iOS 18.2, and that brought a lot of new Apple Intelligence features to our phones, especially if you have an iPhone 16. With iOS 18.2, Apple finally added Visual Intelligence, a feature similar to Google Lens, but on iPhone.

Read more
A new render teases the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s big redesign, and I’m torn
Leaked render of iPhone 17 Pro Max front glass and rear camera bar module.

With the iPhone 16 line, Apple made some big changes with the base models, while the iPhone 16 Pro versions looked identical to those from the past several years. But Apple appears to be making some very significant changes to the design of the iPhone 17 Pro Max — especially if these mock-up renders from a Russian YouTube channel, Wylsacom, are accurate.

The YouTube video shows that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will look nothing like its predecessors, according to the rumors that this mock-up is based on.

Read more
Apple hopes foldable and thinner iPhones will boost sales
A render of the iPhone Air.

Apple's iPhone sales have declined in recent years, primarily because the company has focused more on software updates than hardware improvements. However, Apple hopes this trend will change next year, as it plans to introduce new handsets with significant design upgrades.

There has been considerable discussion recently about the upcoming "iPhone 17 Air," which is anticipated to be the thinnest iPhone ever made. It is expected to be released in September alongside the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup.

Read more