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| Apple sues $300 million patent |
A Texas jury has asked Apple to donate $300 million (roughly two days of the company's annual profit) to PanOptis and its affiliates Optis Cellular and Unwired Planet. It's part of a global fight against a company that claims to have patents on the LTE cellular standard.
This follows a new lawsuit in a patent suit related to the wireless technology used in the iPhone and other products.
A jury in Marshall, Texas, said patent management company PanOptis and its units Optis Cellular and Unwired Planet must make these one-time payments to cover past and future uses of the technology.
Last year, the jury awarded the company $506.2 million.
The object of the lawsuit is to find out how much Apple must pay. In April, U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Gilstrap upheld the jury liability report.
However, he ordered a new lawsuit for damages and said the jury should be allowed to decide whether the entitlement to benefits complies with the requirements of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms or the FRAND license standard for essential patents.
The Texas trial is part of PanOptis' bid to raise up to $7 billion from the iPhone maker. A British court's decision to set a comprehensive rate of return prompted Apple's lawyers to threaten in July that the company could withdraw from the UK market if it was forced to pay an economically unacceptable amount.
The Texas case was about technology that the company felt was necessary to implement the 4G communications standard. PanOptis said Apple's fourth-generation smartphones, watches and tablets use its patented technology.
Apple sues $300 million patent
PanOptis does not manufacture any products. According to Apple, it does nothing but sue Telsa, Huawei, and ZTE.
"PanOptis does not manufacture any products and its only activity is to sue companies that use the patents they have collected," Apple said in a statement. We will continue to defend his attempts to charge incorrect patents.
In the case of Texas, five patents were initially granted to Panasonic, Samsung and LG.
Panasonic and LG granted these patents to Optis Cellular in 2014, and Samsung granted their patents to Unwired Planet in 2017. This comes from the database of the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The technology industry has been debating for decades how to evaluate patents on the basis of so-called "core technology criteria". With the incorporation of wireless inventions into other consumer products such as home appliances and cars, it becomes even more urgent.
Companies that work together to ensure device interoperability have the advantage of including their inventions in the standard.
Therefore, you agree to license all patents relating to the FRAND Terms. Although the term is not clearly defined, it has led to legal disputes and regulatory investigations around the world.
PanOptis claimed that Apple rejected all fair deals and accused the company of not allowing it. This is an important case in the London operation.