Apple Wins New Trial in $506 Million Patent-Damages Award (bloomberg.com) 10
A federal judge tossed a $506.2 million damages award against Apple after ruling the iPhone maker should have been able to argue that patent owner Optis Wireless Technology was making unfair royalty demands, though he refused to throw out the liability finding. From a report: Optis and its partners in the case, PanOptis Patent Management and Unwired Planet, claimed that Apple's smartphones, watches, and tablets that operate over the LTE cellular standard were using its patented technology. U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Gilstrap said the jury should have been allowed to consider whether the royalty demand was consistent with a requirement that standard-essential patents be licensed on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory," or FRAND, terms. The patent trial in August, one of the few held during the pandemic, was part of an unusual sweep of verdicts in Texas that collectively resulted in $3.7 billion in damages against tech companies like Apple and Intel Corp. Apple was also hit with damages awards of $502.8 million in a decade-long battle over security communications technology, and $308.5 million in a case over digital rights management.
cash on hand (Score:2)
Seriously, Apple has so much money laying around, why don't they just buy up these companies they claim infringe their copyrights? Even with a stock premium to make the current owners happy, still seems cheaper than paying lawyers.
Re:cash on hand (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple is not accusing the plaintiff of infringement. It is the other way around. Also, copyrights and patents are two totally different things with very different rules.
If Apple spends billions acquiring patent trolls, there will soon be many more patent trolls hoping to cash in. It is far better to drown them in litigation expenses.
Re: cash on hand (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
oh, hah! Serves me right for jumping to conclusions and not paying attention to the summary. I hope I'm upholding Slashdot tradition well.
Re: (Score:2)
Because:
1. The owners may refuse to sell.
2. Even if the owners are prepared to sell, they will demand a price that is the same or more than Apple would have to pay if it lost the lawsuit.
Re: cash on hand (Score:4, Insightful)
This may continue to be the case even when the patent troll isn't the son of the judge in whose court he's suing. https://thepriorart.typepad.co... [typepad.com]
Re: (Score:2)
No, Apple just has to outbid the patent trolls for East Texas juries. For the price of a few new doublewides and bigscreens for all, it can implement those long-delayed features users have been waiting for.
Re: (Score:1)
"Millions for defense, not one red cent for tribute."