By Blake Brittain
Feb 12 (Reuters) – Apple on Thursday won a defense verdict in a lawsuit brought by intellectual property management company Optis Wireless, which had accused the tech giant of infringing its patent rights in 4G LTE wireless technology.
Optis had won verdicts of $506 million and $300 million against Apple in previous trials in the long-running case in Marshall, Texas. Both verdicts were later overturned on appeal.
An Optis spokesman said Friday that the company would appeal Thursday’s verdict.
“Apple’s stated strategy is to devalue and delay payment for the proprietary technology underlying the innovation it relies on to deliver high-speed LTE communications,” the spokesperson said. “While we respect the jury’s decision, we are incredibly disappointed by this result.”
“We thank the jury for their time and are pleased that they rejected Optis’ false claims,” ​​an Apple spokesperson said. “Optis does not make products and its only business is suing companies, which it has done repeatedly with Apple in an attempt to obtain an excessive payment.”
An Optis spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
Plano, Texas-based Optis and its subsidiaries sued Apple in 2019, arguing that the tech giant’s iPhones and other products violated its patent rights in technology related to the 4G LTE wireless standard. Apple denied the allegations and argued that the patents are invalid.
A jury determined in 2020 that Apple owed $506 million for infringing Optis patents. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap ordered a new trial for damages in 2021, after determining that the damages may not have been in line with Optis’ responsibility to license patents on fair and reasonable terms.
A new jury awarded Optis $300 million in damages after a new trial later that year. The ‌USA The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned that verdict last year, finding that Gilstrap had incorrectly drafted the jury verdict form by combining all of the patents at issue into a single infringement question.
A U.K. court separately ruled last year that Apple owes Optis $502 million for infringing Optis’ U.K. wireless patents. The UK Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal from Apple in June.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)