Wednesday, a Michigan-based networking company filed a legal action against Google, Microsoft and Apple, claiming that the three had violated the former’s patent on using document-preview icons in operating systems.

Cygnus Systems has taken aim via the lawsuit at Google’s Chrome, Microsoft’s Vista and Internet Explorer 8 and Apple’s iPhone, Safari and Mac OS X, which all allegedly infringe on the patent.

Moreover, the company said that Apple Incorporated made use of the patent-protected technology through their Finder and Cover Flow features for the Mac OS X.

The case was filed in Arizona District Court, where according to PCWorld, Cygnus’ owner Gregory Swartz lives.

Court filings read that Cygnus Systems was granted the patent back in March this year, but that the company had applied for it in as early as 2001, requesting a continuation from a 1998 application.

Now, the company is seeking damages, along with a permanent injunction in order to prevent future infringement on the thumbnails patent, having also hinted at the fact that other companies might be heading towards a lawsuit over preview icons.

Matt McAndrews, a partner with the Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro law firm, which is the one  representing Cygnus, has stated that other likely infringing products had been identified, adding that the three tech giants had been a starting point for the legal actions.

Cygnus Systems has described its patent-protected technology as a means to access one or more computer files through a graphical icon, which includes an image of a part of the file that the user is trying to access.