A new suit has been filed for patent infringement in the Eastern District of Texas in a Tyler court. The suit alleges that pretty much every major maker of media players in the world is infringing upon a patent held by a company called Tsera LLC.

Listed in the suit are Apple, Microsoft, Cowon, iRiver, LG, Bang & Olufsen, Philips, and TrekStor among others. In all there are 20 different defendants named in the case. The allegations made by Tsera are that the defendants are all infringing on a patent granted to Tsera in 2003 that covers different swipe movements on a touchpad without having to provide visual feedback or look at the player to understand what's taking place.

AppleInsider reports that the patent is vague, which is usually the case. The plaintiff claims that Apple in particular has been "wanton" in its continued infringement on the patent and Tsera is seeking enhanced damages against Apple.

According to Tsera, Apple has known about the infringement on the Tsera patent since September of 2004 and has refused to pay a patent license fee for the iPod classic and nano models allegedly infringing on the patent. Tsera isn’t seeking to prevent any of the allegedly infringing products from being imported or built but is seeking royalty payments on the use of the patent if it wins the suit.

The reason the suit was filed in the Eastern district of Texas Tyler court is that previous rulings form the district in similar cases have been in the plaintiff’s favor. Nintendo lost a case that resulted in $21 million in damages in the district last year.