BASF accuses Apple of infringing patents behind Face ID technology

BASF has sued Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of infringing patented technology used to authenticate faces across a range of iPhone and iPad models.

BASF's trinamiX unit said in a complaint filed on Thursday that it had spent the past decade developing technology designed to address a security flaw in conventional facial recognition systems, which can be vulnerable to spoofing using photographs, 3D-printed masks and silicone replicas.

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According to the complaint, Apple did not use BASF's patented technology when it introduced Face ID with the iPhone X in 2017. But BASF said Apple now uses the technology in several models, including the iPhone 15, iPhone 16 and iPhone 17, as well as the iPad Pro and other products.

"Apple knew or should have ⁠known of the high probability that updating its iPhones and iPads to incorporate Face ID using material and skin detection" infringed seven trinamiX patents, the complaint said, alleging that the infringement had caused "substantial damages and irreparable injury."

BASF filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Midland, Texas, seeking unspecified damages as well as an order preventing Apple from continuing to infringe the patents.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, sold $196.5 billion worth of iPhones and $21.7 billion worth of iPads in the nine months ended June 27, underscoring the scale of the business at the centre of the patent dispute.

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TrinamiX traces its origins to 2010, when BASF scientists working on organic solar cells made unexpected discoveries that led to the development of early three-dimensional camera prototypes, according to the complaint.

BASF established trinamiX as a standalone entity in 2014 to develop 3D and material-sensing technologies. The unit now holds more than 800 granted or pending patents worldwide, the complaint said.