Apple Told to Pay $308.5 Million for Infringing DRM Patent

Apple infringed on a digital rights management patent, and must pay $308.5 million, a federal jury in Texas decided this week.

"Apple said it was disappointed with the ruling and would appeal," reports Bloomberg: "Cases like this, brought by companies that don't make or sell any products, stifle innovation and ultimately harm consumers," the company said in an emailed statement...

U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap last week also adopted a magistrate's recommendation denying Apple's request to find the patent invalid.

How will the comments go?

[ArchieBunker]

Slashdot hates everything Apple but they also hate software patents. So which side is the winner here?

How will the corners go?

[Ostracus]

ROUNDED CORNERS!

Re:

[Tablizer]

Fine both sides.

Re:How will the comments go?

[Powercntrl]

Apple is no saint, but patent trolls should be fed to piranhas.

Re:How will the comments go?

[bug_hunter]

But the patent is about DRM... another layer.

But in all honesty, from what I observe from the majority of comments here is when it's a Bad Company vs Bad Concept scenarios Slashdotters aren't happy about the Bad Concept winning.

I guess with the understanding that Bad Concepts can take down friends and foes alike.

Re:

[alvinrod]

If someone were able to lock DRM away behind a patent so that no one else could use it, I don't think people here would complain too much.

Re:How will the comments go?

[phantomfive]

"Cases like this, brought by companies that don't make or sell any products, stifle innovation and ultimately harm consumers," the company said in an emailed statement...

Apple is right. It's not about whether we "like Apple" or not, it's about the content of their arguments.

Re:How will the comments go?

[AmiMoJo]

But in this case if we are talking about stifling innovation and harming consumers then DRM does that too, arguably even worse than patent trolls.

DRM is making the concept of ownership obsolete. Things you "buy" are not really yours, which I'd say is a greater evil.

DRM is IP poison

[fyngyrz]

Things you "buy" are not really yours, which I'd say is a greater evil.

Yes, this. DRM ("Digital Rights Management") is a means to remove the right of ownership of consumers consequent to purchase.

DRM, "subscription" software, HDMI/HDCP, quite a list of things... they're a "fuck you" to normal people, and uniformly terrific for corporations.

IP law, at least here in the US, is anti-consumer in the extreme.

Re:

[phantomfive]

Yes. When Apple, or any company, implements DRM, they are wrong. When they point out that software patents stifle innovation, they are right.

Re: How will the comments go?

[xQx]

Apple is right. Patents stifle innovation.

The real irony of this is that it was a patent over DRM... Which protects the other form of artificial monopoly that we accept in the western world: copyrights.

Re: How will the comments go?

[kurkosdr]

Nobody's side. I just hope companies like Apple have to pay more money to patent trolls so they have a financial interest in lobbying to end the practice.

Re:

[retiredJan]

Agree. In my eyes the best (and easiest) way to get rid of the troll lawers as a lot of people / small companies don't have the money to fight them.

Re: How will the comments go?

[aRTeeNLCH]

Lobbying is expensive, will take time, and meanwhile the trolls have more funds to survive, show their business practices work and continue them. I'm not sure this is an outcome to wish for...

Re: How will the comments go?

[EirikFinlay]

Apple loves software patents when they can profit from them (same for Microsoft, etc), so yeah, i feel zero pity for them.

Software patents are the cancer of our field, just as Apple's monopolistic and anti-consumer practices. Unfortunately 300 million are pennies for them, that's the only thing I feel sorry about.

Re:How will the comments go?

[LenKagetsu]

It depends entirely if you use the patent system as a sword or a shield.

Re:

[GoTeam]

Well said!

Uninformative summary

[Geoffrey.landis]

Wow, one of the least informative summaries ever.

Here's the engadget article: https://www.engadget.com/apple... [engadget.com] The DRM patents were from Personalized Media Communications. Apple initially had claims invalidated at the US Patent and Trademark Office, but PMC overturned some of those decisions on appeal.

The court was the Eastern District court of Texas, a court which patent trolls often go to: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/... [eff.org]

  https://www.bloomberg.com/opin... [bloomberg.com]

Re:

[Rockoon]

...a place that apple has had a legal team doing their bidding for years and years....

Apple is a clear patent troll too. I am rooting for the other patent troll, because he isnt trying to sell me anything, and isnt using his trolling to gain a market advantage that distorts my decision making.

Re:

[Dog-Cow]

How is Apple a patent troll?

Re: Uninformative summary

[SleepingEye]

Have you been living under a rock? Samsung WON a patent litigation and the US government stopped it. Then they tried to patent the same action you'd use for unlocking a deadbolt and rounded corners

Re:

[Tablizer]

like a cat fight between two ex's

Re:

[K. S. Kyosuke]

who cares who wins, as long as one of them loses, I'm happy.

But lawyers always win, so there's that.

Re:Best kind of fight!

[The Evil Atheist]

This is a stupid attitude.

Patent trolls are a danger to all innovation, not just Apple.

Re:

[bloodhawk]

Apple has used patents as a club in the past, yes it would be nice if the ridiculous patent trolling ended, but Apple being a target is probably the best result as they deserve some of their own medicine and it is a positive in 2 ways, 1. maybe it will make Apple think twice about abusing its own patents and 2. perhaps they will also campaign harder for reform in this area.

Re:

[The Evil Atheist]

Other than Apple's design patents, what other patents have they weaponized in the past? I'm out of the loop, since that's the only recent one I can remember.

Apple definitely won't think twice, and nothing will make it. It's got money. Real cash in the bank, as it were, not just stock market numbers, and the ability to continue to make more actual money with actual products.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

They've weaponized border control to seize 3rd party repair parts, parts that didnt infringe on any patents or copyrights, I'd say that's worse

Re:

[The Evil Atheist]

Cool. Then fight them on that.

Re:

[Dog-Cow]

Has Apple ever sued over patents that it had never used?

Re:

[Admiral Krunch]

Has Apple ever sued over patents that it had never used?

Is suing over patents it should never have been granted close enough?

Why doesn't Apple just buy Tyler, Texas?

[Applehu Akbar]

The company could build a giant silicon fab there the the M-series processors, giving the area a source of jobs other than patent troll lawyering. Everybody wins, and the troll lawyers would make great compost.

Back to Back

[The New Guy 2.0]

Interesting "take out the trash" day going on here... two stories in a row of Apple getting hit in court.

The Eastern District of Texas

[takionya]

Real reasons Eastern District of Texas draws patent cases [smu.edu]

Re:The Eastern District of Texas

[misnohmer]

Wow, a long read only to find out that the authors have no idea why the E.D. Texas became such a patent case magnet.

Re:

[Ecuador]

Yeah, it was rather underwhelming.
For me the takeaway was that you have a higher chance of reaching a jury trial in E Texas (for various reasons), and jury trials in general favor plaintiffs, so patent trolls have the best chance there.

I for one am glad

[thegarbz]

that companies are stifling innovation on the development of DRM.

Godwin time: Hitler wasn't all bad either. He did after all kill Hitler.

Live by the sword

[Growlley]

die by the sword.

Must be harsh

[wakeboarder]

Comparatively that fine would be like you or me paying for lunch.