Infringement: Jury orders Apple to pay $300m in patent dispute ruling

*The Optis Wireless Technology alleges Apple used its technology in its iPhones, iPads and Watches without securing a licence

*‘We will continue to defend against their attempts to extract unreasonable payments for patents they acquire,’ Apple reacts to judgement

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

Although the global technology giant says it will continue to defend itself against the ruling, a jury has decided against Apple in a patent dispute, and awarded Optis Wireless Technology $300million in a lawsuit.

ConsumerConnect gathered the Optis Wireless Technology felt Apple used its   technology in its iPhones, iPads, and Watches without securing a licence.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that Optis does no manufacture any actual products.

Indeed, it does not appear to be in the mobile technology business at all, Bloomberg report stated.

Apple Headquarters in the US 

Yet, the company has described itself as a “people data services and cloud software solutions” company that just happens to own the patents that are the cornerstone of this case.

Report indicates those patents once belonged to Panasonic, LG, and Samsung before Optis purchased them.

The lawsuit is built around technology that Optis claims is crucial to carrying out the 4G communications standard, a key component in Apple’s mobile devices, according to report.

Apple responds, vows to appeal the ruling

The tech giant has been operating in a familiar turf as in 2019, Apple reportedly paid Qualcomm over $4billion as part of a settlement in another royalty dispute.

ConsumerConnect learnt though the award to Optis is lower than a previous ruling because it is focused on damages only, Apple says it intends to appeal the ruling as a matter of principle.

The tech giant, in an e-mail to The Verge, said it values invention and respects intellectual property, but it called Optis out because the company “makes no products and its sole business is to sue companies using patents they accumulate.”

Apple said: “We will continue to defend against their attempts to extract unreasonable payments for patents they acquire.”

The global technology company maintains it has sufficient reason to lay blame at Optis feet for being lawsuit-happy.

Not only does the company have a track record of suing others like Tesla and Huawei, on similar grounds, but it is also pursuing Apple in the English High Court, where it’s seeking to establish a global royalty rate for its patents, report noted.

Consequently, Apple has threatened to pull out of the United Kingdom (UK) if it was ordered by London judges to pay a “commercially unacceptable” amount.

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