Apple Wins $625.5 Million Ruling Over Cover Flow

An anonymous reader writes "A federal judge has reversed a $625.5 million judgement against Apple in a patent infringement lawsuit pertaining to Apple's Cover Flow feature. The lawsuit was filed by Mirror Worlds, a company founded by Yale professor Dave Gelertner. 'Mirror Worlds may have painted an appealing picture for the jury, but it failed to lay a solid foundation sufficient to support important elements it was required to establish under the law,' US District Judge Leonard Davis explained in his decision."

I still don't understand who won.

[chemicaldave]

Apple doesn't have to pay punitive damages, but the court still upheld the patents.

Though Gelertner’s patents were upheld by the court, Judge Davis threw out the $625.5 million damage award and closed the case in Apple’s favor.

Isn't this like saying "Apple infringed on your patents, but they won't have to pay anything. Have a nice day."

Re:Bad news for the small guy.

[Apotsy]

Considering Apple initially licensed CoverFlow from a "small guy [blogspot.com]" (and presumably paid them well for it), you could spin this as good news for the small guy. Just sayin'