Apple Ordered to Pay $533 Million for Infringing Patents

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Posted February 25, 2015 at 3:17pm by iClarified

Apple has been ordered to pay $532.9 million after a federal jury found iTunes infringed three patents held by Smartflash LLC, reports Bloomberg.

Closely held Smartflash LLC, which claimed that Apple infringed three patents, was seeking $852 million in damages, while Apple said it was worth $4.5 million at most. A federal jury in Tyler, Texas, where Smartflash is based, on Tuesday rejected Apple’s arguments that it didn’t use the inventions and that the patents were invalid.

The patents deal with digital rights management, data storage, and managing access through payment systems.

“Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no U.S. presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented,” said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. “We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system.”

“Apple doesn’t respect Smartflash’s inventions,” the company’s lawyer, John Ward of Ward & Smith in Longview, Texas, told the jury. “Not a single witness could be bothered with reviewing the patent.”

Smartflash had been seeking $852 million in damages. It claimed that Apple intentionally infringed the patents, partly because one Apple executive had been briefed on the technology over a decade ago.

The company has also sued Samsung, Google, and Amazon for patent infringement.

Apple Ordered to Pay $533 Million for Infringing Patents

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gamerscul9870 - February 26, 2015 at 12:56am

"Consumer has no obligation to your company" did he say he owned a company? Besides who asked you anyway?

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Ren - February 26, 2015 at 12:01am

$533 Million is nothing to Apple. They profit is in billion by avoiding tax in EU. In UK they only pay 1% tax compare to small business who pay 20%. £533 will be shoulder by consumer from their overprice innovative products that been copied from other companies and stolen from individuals.

Dave Vangina - February 26, 2015 at 12:15am

it is ok actually not to pay taxes in EU as most taxes collected there fund Putin army thru payments for nat gas. AFAIK Europeans are aware and agreed to this in new trade agreement. In return European companies have a lot tax incentives in US. Avoiding taxes in US is way more dangerous.

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 9:42pm

What the hell is Dave talking about??? Someone... Anyone, help me out here...

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 10:08pm

Again..... What the Hell is Dave talking about????

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 10:39pm

Dave, no one can comprehend these analogies you have brought into this argument; they don't make sense! Not sure where the bigotry comments come from.. Maybe the other poster.. Anyway, the article is about Patents and litigation against companies.. This has nothing to do with God, Israel, Palestine, or the price of tea in China.

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 11:27pm

Great job Dave!!! You proved......... nothing. Apple's worth 100x that and will make that money back in profits within the next quarter. So yeah..

Ren - February 25, 2015 at 7:49pm

Apple order to pay $533 Million for copying again, just like what they did from CREATIVE. They copy everything and call it innovation. From Apple name from Beatles Company, Iphone name, OS interface from creative and windows, watch you can see on IOS from swiss rail clock maker and others

Ren - February 25, 2015 at 9:07pm

Apple is No.1 for infringing! Lol

Ren - February 25, 2015 at 7:43pm

Apple copied everything from apple name from beatles, ios interface from craeative, watch from swiss rail and more

iFan - February 25, 2015 at 5:45pm

It does not matter if the company has or not employee, products etc. If they filed the patent for the technology they has the right to fight. IT's THE LAW.

tmel4198 - February 25, 2015 at 8:02pm

Sexual harassment, panda

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 9:33pm

Butterspider, there are many things that are despicable in this world and this would probably be on the bottom of any scale in that regard. Those who bring ethics or morality into the conversation is pure conjecture. While opinions are justified & understood, doesn't take away the fact that this was all handled within the realm of our justice system... "Don't hate the Player, Hate the Game" is the phrase that comes to mind. The crazy thing is, that companies KNOW that this can happen & still don't take action on patenting their tech or securing their intellectual property (If it's even Apple's) for the smallest of fractional costs compared to the price of litigation.. So there's that.. As long as a company decides to not patent tech, and have a budget for legal action and be able to sustain BAU business practices, who are we to judge either party??

Butterspider - February 25, 2015 at 10:12pm

But to say"its ok... Their pockets are deep enough...." Thats a dangerous stance. Where does it stop? It's just not a solid argument. Just because apple can afford to take the hit does not justify the action.

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 10:33pm

All I'm saying is that companies have dealt with this since (as it seems) forever. I never implied that it's ok because their pockets are deep, I'm just saying that if the tech was in fact Apple's intellectual property, they should have protected it. I love Apple, I'm Apple'd the eff out in my household & probably will never have it any other way.. I also work in the corporate landscape & know for a fact that a company doesn't own half the tech they claim they invented... Made it RELEVANT, yes.. Made it BETTER, yes... There's a million people out there who have ideas and don't protect them, then when Joe Blow has the idea of protecting that idea, they get the advantage. Survival of the fittest, no matter what the environment is.. Cant be mad at the guy/company capitalizing on a legally obtained patent. Be mad that Big Business didn't have the smarts to protect it 1st. With a company as big as Apple, you'd think they would have secured a patent they say they invented - unless it wasn't their tech in the 1st place. & THAT'S why they have a litigation budget ;) . They'll accept it & move on, just like we will. Apple still wins in the long run, its an unstoppable machine. & I love them for it.

Butterspider - February 25, 2015 at 4:18pm

I hope patent trolls are reserved a special place in hell. That is disgusting.

kapnkirk24 - February 25, 2015 at 9:40pm

Moral of the Story: If you have any intellectual property of value, you or your legal team should have it patented. The cost is minuscule in comparison to these types of litigation. Its the cost of Big Business.. Apple's a big boy and they know where every swing is coming from, and they have budgets for these types of incidents. So please, tell me how this affects you at home?