In the suit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, claims that the rendering process Apple uses on the iPhone violates Piscel's patents. Specifically, Picsel said its technology accelerates the process of updating the display on a device.

In the lawsuit filed by Nixon Peabody LLP on behalf of Picsel, lawyers said users would experience long screen update delays if it weren't for the use of the patented technology. Zooming and panning documents, Web sites, and images would not work on the iPhone as fluidly, according to the lawsuit.

Picsel says its technology has been included in more than 250 million units worldwide. The company counts KDDI, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Palm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Sharp as customers.

Picsel is asking the court to order Apple to compensate Piscel for devices already sold with treble damages.