Apple To Pay $300 Million USD Over LTE Patent Violation
Apple Inc. has been asked to pay $300 million in royalties after a retrial in a patent dispute over wireless technology used in iPhones
The Texas jury said PanOptis Patent Management and its two subsidiaries, Optis Cellular and Unwired Planet, were owed this amount as a lump sum to cover past and future use of the technology.
The case focused solely on how much Apple should pay.
A jury liability report was upheld by US District Court Judge Rodney Gilstrap in April, but he ordered a new trial for damages.
He argued that the jury should have been allowed to consider whether the royalty request complied with the requirement to license essential patents on “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms”.
“We thank the jury for their time, but we are disappointed with the verdict and plan to appeal,” Apple, based in Cupertino, California, said in a statement.
Apple said that Optis does not make any products and its only job is to sue companies that use the patents they collect.
“We will continue to defend against their attempts to extract unreasonable payments for their patents,” the company said.
The Texas case involves technology that the company claims is necessary to implement the 4G communications standard.
Optis said Apple’s 4G smartphones, watches, and tablets were using its patented technology.
While Optis does not manufacture any products, the five patents in the Texas case were originally issued to Panasonic, Samsung, and LG.
Panasonic and LG transferred two patents to Optis Cellular in 2014.
Samsung transferred its patent to Unwired Planet in 2017, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s database.
