Apple told to pay $300 million for infringing Optis Wireless’ patents with technology found in its iPhone
Daniel Levi
Posted On August 16, 2021
Last year, a federal jury ruled that Apple owed $506 million for infringing Plano, Texas-based Optis, PanOptis Patent Management, and Unwired Planet’s LTE patents with technology found in its iPhone and other LTE-capable products.
A year later, a federal jury on Friday awarded Optis Wireless Technology and other related companies $300 million in royalties and damages after a retrial in a patent dispute over wireless technology used in Apple’s iPhones and other products.
After a four-day trial, a federal jury said the tech giant owes a $300 million lump sum for infringing wireless standard-essential patents owned by IP management company Optis Wireless Technology and its affiliates
“We thank the jury for their time but are disappointed by the verdict and plan to appeal,” Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock said in an email. “Optis makes no products and its sole business is to sue companies using patents they accumulate. We will continue to defend against their attempts to extract unreasonable payments.”
A search on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database confirms Apple’s claim that Optis doesn’t make any product. Data from USPTO confirms that the five patents at the center of the court case were originally issued to Panasonic Corp., Samsung Electronics Co., and LG Electronics Co. LG and Panasonic transferred the ownership of the two patents each to Optis Cellular in 2014.
Then in 2017, Samsung transferred its patent to Unwired Planet. The case is Optis Wireless Technology LLC v. Apple Inc, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 2:19-cv-00066.
Meanwhile, it’s not uncommon for companies to buy IPs and go after other companies that infringe on their IPs. A subsidiary of PanOptis, “Optis Cellular Technology owns globally distributed patent families relating to 3G and 4G LTE essential technologies, as well as popular features in smartphone and tablet user interfaces, core chipset, modulation, and battery management, antenna and power management system, and other related technology,” a statement on its website reads.
