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Apple Inc. Acquires TouchID Patents From Privaris

Apple is reportedly acquiring patents from the biometric startup to improve TouchID systems

AAPL
By: Martin Blanc
Published: Jun 29, 2015 at 9:19 am EST

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in the midst of acquiring patents of a startup in Virginia, CNN reports. Based in Charlottesville, Privaris deals in making tiny fingerprint sensors that can be attached to your keychain for authentication purposes.

Apple has recently acquired 26 of the 31 patents Privaris owns in a bid to improve its own TouchID fingerprint sensors. One of the patent documents describes the ability to use the sensor in conjunction with a touch screen, while another indicates how a person can scan their fingerprint on a reader and let you unlock car and/or house doors.

While the iPhone maker usually buys patents and intellectual property, it does not always roll them out to its products. What sparks curiosity though is that Privaris has not updated its website since November 2009. The startup’s website lists Authentec as one of its partners, an entity Apple acquired in 2012 for its TouchID systems.

According to CNN, Apple acquired three patents from Privaris on December 19, 2012 and others were bought in October 2014. Instead of acquiring the company itself, Apple bought out its patents; after which the startup probably ran out of mainstream tasks - explaining the four-year hiatus of no updates.

After Apple’s acquisition of Metaio, it seems the company is aggressively trying to improve the TouchID system for the future. It makes sense too since the company has to keep up with current trends and offer new products and services to consumers. Meanwhile, rumors suggest Apple is looking forward to removing the TouchID sensor from iPhones completely.

CEO and founder of SmartUp (a startup in the business of providing legal help to startups), Mikhail Avady, recently stated that he and his team had found the iPhone maker’s next possible acquisition. He stated that he was the first person who discovered that Privaris's patents were being transferred to Apple. The fact that Apple does not publicize its acquisitions could also be why the acquisition could not be publicly verified.

It seems the startup has remained dormant for the past five years because the deal aforementioned only included patents. Thus it is unlikely that there will be a full-scale acquisition.

http://www.bidnessetc.com/46551-apple-inc-acquires-touchid-patents-from-privaris/