“BetaNet on Monday filed a lawsuit against 18 companies, including Apple, Adobe and Microsoft,” Jim Dalrymple reports for The Loop.

“Filed in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, the lawsuit claims the companies violate the ’134 patent, entitled “Secure System for Activating Personal Computer Software at Remote Locations.’ The patent was issued on June 22, 1993, according to the lawsuit,” Dalrymple reports.

MacDailyNews Take: The Rocket Docket strikes again.

Dalrymple continues, “BetaNet specifically mentions Apple’s iTunes, Aperture, QuickTime and MobileMe as infringing on its patent.”

Full article here.

Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider, “‘(Apple is) using, selling and offering to sell computer software via a process that provides a program file — including a loader segment and a registration shell portion — to a remote computer having a display,’ the complaint reads. ‘The program file contains a first executive control program, representing a limited version of the program file. License transaction information is entered into the registration shell portion, and that information is transmitted from the registration shell to a separate registration program provided in a registration computer.’”

Hughes reports, “It continues: ‘The registration program merges the license transaction information with the second executive control program — representing a complete version of the program file to — to generate a unique overlay file. The unique overlay file is transmitted from the registration program to the registration shell, and contains the second executive control program. The overlay file is installed on the main program file, thereby allowing complete operation of the program file.’”

Hughes reports, “Other software specifically mentioned by BetaNet in the suit is Adobe’s Creative Suite, Acrobat and Photoshop; Carbonite’s online backup tools; Intuit’s Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax; Microsoft Office, OneCare, Windows Server and Silverlight; McAffee VirusScan; and the Rosetta Stone foreign language suite.”

Full article here.