Apple Has Licensed iOS Scrolling Patent to Nokia and IBM

Apple has licensed a key iOS scrolling patent to Nokia and IBM, and even offered to license it to Samsung during failed negotiations in November 2010, according to the The Verge.

The scrolling patent is #7,469,381 and covers the scrollback behavior of iOS that displays a background texture when you over scroll a page.

Apple asserted this patent against Samsung as part of its failed attempt to get an injunction against Galaxy devices, and the court order denying the injunction includes general discussion of how past licensing behavior affects the decision of whether or not to grant an injunction. The discussion is nestled among two redacted statements shown to The Verge that confirm the '381 patent was licensed to IBM and Nokia, and that Apple offered a license to Samsung in November of 2010 as part of settlement negotiations.


It appears that the licensing of this patent to Nokia and IBM has worked against Apple in obtaining a preliminary injunction against Samsung. The court found that this may "indicate that a reasonable royalty does compensate for an infringement" and found that Apple "has failed to meet its burden to establish that money damages will not be sufficient to compensate Apple for the Samsung products that likely infringe the '381 patent."

Read More