18/08/2021
Apple was fined $ 300 million for patent infringement owned by PanOptis Patent Management. The manufacturer of the iPhone and iPad could not avoid punishment, but the amount of compensation was still reduced.
This was reported by DailyComm with reference to Reuters.A Texas jury has ordered Apple to pay $ 300 million to PanOptis Patent Management, as well as subsidiaries of Optis Cellular and Unwired Planet, to cover past and future damages from illegal use of the technology.
According to the results of the preliminary hearing, Apple was fined $ 506.2 million.The lawsuit concerns LTE technology owned by Optis Wireless and used by Apple in its smartphones and other devices. The five patents in the Texas case were originally granted to Panasonic, Samsung and LG. Panasonic and LG transferred their patents to Optis Cellular in 2014, and Samsung transferred the patent to Unwired Planet in 2017.
Apple has named Optis Wireless a patent troll and said the company produces nothing. The so-called patent trolls are firms that do not carry out any production activities themselves, but have a wide portfolio of different patents, which they use to prosecute other commercial companies in court, in the hope of receiving waivers or patent payments.It is especially difficult in this sense for innovative companies, which face the fact that their new technologies are allegedly described in some patents dating back to the last century. Descriptions can be vague and vague, but the amount that the patent holder will demand in court is quite specific.
Shortly before the lawsuit was filed, Apple initiated the process of closing all its stores in East Texas, presumably to avoid litigation for patent infringement in this jurisdiction, which is a favorite residence of patent trolls. However, Optis's lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, where the jury was held.In July 2021, the British Supreme Court ruled that Apple had infringed Optis Cellular Technology's patents by requiring the corporation to pay license fees for "standardized smartphone technology" in its devices. The exact amount of payments will be determined in 2022. Under British law, it is calculated based on worldwide sales and can be up to $ 7 billion.
Apple will be able to avoid significant payments only if it leaves the UK market.