Holotouch, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation

HoloTouch, Inc. has filed its first lawsuit, accusing Microsoft (1:17-cv-08717) of infringing two US patents broadly related to controlling a device by interacting with a holographic image. Microsoft’s virtual reality headset HoloLens is the accused product. In its complaint, HoloTouch claims to work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to “design and build prototypes” of its patented technologies; the company identifies holographic switches allegedly installed to replace tactile controls to open doors in the Yale-New Haven Hospital and Greenwich Hospital, “where durability and hygiene are critical issues”. In its press release announcing the suit against Microsoft, HoloTouch’s president R. Douglas McPheters announced that “[a]dditional complaints against others’ infringing patents protecting our innovative technology are being prepared”.