Richie Bartlett
I actually agree with Apple on this case. Even if they “stole” the technology, the other “company” never took it to market! Just a patient troll looking to get rich.Apple ordered to pay $533 million in iTunes infringement lawsuit
The tech giant must cough up roughly half a billion after being found guilty of using Smartflash patents without permission.
Apple has been ordered to pay $533 million in damages after being found guilty of infringing patents owned by Smartflash.
In a federal court based in Texas, this week the iPad and iPhone maker was ordered to pay a total of $532.9 million to patent licensing firm Smartflash. After eight hours of debate, Apple was found to have infringed upon three patents owned by Smartflash and through various applications and iTunes music software.
As reported by Reuters, the patents in question are related to accessing and storing data, digital rights management (DRM) and payment systems.
The licensing company filed the lawsuit against Apple in 2013 (.PDF). The original complaint states:
In this, the Texan jury agreed – after deciding Apple not only used the patents without permission, but did so “willfully,” according to the news agency.
The complaint also says that co-inventor of the patents, Patrick Racz, met with then-Gemplus executive Augustin Farrugia in around 2000 to discuss the technology. Farrugia subsequently joined Apple as a Senior Director.
Smartflash has also attempted to take Google, Samsung and HTC (.PDF) to court for allegedly infringing upon patents related to data storage and access. According to the Smartflash website, the company’s technology is used in products and services including smartphones, game consoles, set-top boxes, netbooks, app stores and smart television sets.
The licensing firm originally asked for $852 million in damages. Apple attempted to have the case thrown out of court by arguing the patents were too basic to deserve intellectual property rights, but presiding US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap disagreed.
Apple plans to appeal the ruling. In a statement to Bloomberg, spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said: