In the country’s first in-person jury trial over patents since the COVID-19 pandemic led to nationwide court closures, a Texas federal jury has ruled that Apple should pay PanOptis and related companies more than US$506 million for willfully infringing patents covering 4G LTE technology, reports Law360.
The Eastern District of Texas jury said Apple failed to prove any of PanOptis’ patent claims are invalid, and then said Apple willfully infringed the patents. The $506.2 million number is a royalty for past sales, according to the verdict form. PanOptis is described as an “an intellectual property management and finance firm.”
In February 2019, a group of firms operating under the name Optis Wireless Technology (including Optis Wireless Technology LLC, Unwired Planet LLC, and PanOptis Patent Management LLC) sued Apple over seven patents connected to LTE cellular standards. Every LTE Apple device is affected, including not just iPhones but iPads and the Apple Watch, according to court documents. The plaintiffs — who seem to be “patent trolls” — say that, as recently as January 2017, they were talking to Apple about licensing patents on FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms, but came to no agreement.
By the way, a patent troll is an individual or an organization that purchases and holds patents for unscrupulous purposes such as stifling competition or launching patent infringement suits. In legal terms, a patent troll is a type of non-practicing entity: someone who holds a patent but is not involved in the design or manufacture of any product or process associated with that patent.
