In its filing, the company says it first approached Microsoft for a partnership in 2006, but never got a response. The tech giant then, allegedly filed its own patent in 2013, citing HoloTouch's patents as "prior art," showing that it was aware of them. HoloTouch says it again reached out to Microsoft in 2015, and then in 2016, to discuss a licensing agreement for the patents, to no success.

We've seen the kind of financial damage patent holders can do to big firms in their quest to for cash. And, it sounds like HoloTouch is about to go on the warpath. The company claims that others are also using its tech, which lets users interact with machines using holographic images. Plus, its patents go beyond the US to encompass Australia, Canada, Japan, and the UK.