Earlier this week, the Michigan-based networking company Cygnus Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple, Google and Microsoft, claiming that all three companies violated one of its patents on the use of document-preview icons in their operating systems.

In addition to the typical damages, Cygnus is also seeking retroactive damages from the date the infringement began and permanent injunction to prevents further infringement. Moreover, it considers bringing to court other companies as well, as the use of its information appears to be very popular, without the company’s approval.

The specific problems for each one have been identified in Google’s Chrome browser, Microsoft’s Vista OS and Internet Explorer 8, and Apple’s Safari, Mac OS X and iPhone.

Cygnus described its technology covered by the patent as "methods and systems for accessing one or more computer files via a graphical icon, wherein the graphical icon includes an image of a selected portion or portions of one or more computer files."

Cygnus filed its patent request on June 8, 2001, looking to bring more data on its original  application filed on June 12, 1998. The patent was granted on March 18, 2008, and the company jumped almost immediately on preparing its lawsuit strategy to recover "an award of damages adequate to compensate plaintiff for the infringement that has occurred."

None of the four companies involved released any comments so far.

The trials are likely to demand a lot of time before reaching a conclusion, but for now the companies are expected to come out with their official statements.