Apple (Photo : Reuters)
Apple was found guilty of patent infringement and ordered to pay damages of $ 533 million by a federal court in Texas yesterday. The lawsuit had been filed by a licensing company named Smartflash LLC, DNA India reported today.
The suit had been filed in May 2013 by Smartflash - a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The suit alleged that six of Smartflash's patents relating to the storing and accessing of songs, videos and games (flash memory technology) had been infringed by Apple. These are technologies that Apple has implemented in its iTunes products and service line. Smartflash had asked in the suit for damages totaling $ 852 million.
Apple had argued in court that Smartflash's technologies were so generic that they could not possibly be patented. But that argument was not accepted.
It is estimated that Apple made $18 billion from its iTunes products and services line over the last financial year, which adds up to about 10 % of Apple's total revenue.
John Ward, the attorney for Smartflash, argued that Apple doesn't respect Smartflash's inventions, especially since Apple did not get even one witness to review the patent over the course of the trial.
The jury in the Texas court held that Apple had "willfully" infringed on the patents, Rolling Stone magazine reported. It was as a consequence of this determination that the damages figure of $ 533 million was arrived at.
In a previous case similar to this, Apple was ordered to pay USD 368 million to a licensing firm called VirnetX in 2013. However, in that instance, Apple had appealed the verdict to a higher court and the higher court had ruled in its favor.
Also, Apple has decided to appeal this award to a higher court. An Apple spokesman said, "Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no US presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented .... unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system".
