Apple has scored a legal victory in its ongoing patent infringement battle with Texas patent troll Optis, reports Reuters.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has thrown out a prior jury verdict that would have forced Apple to pay $300 million for infringing on standard-essential LTE patents owned by Optis. It marks the second time that a nine-figure U.S. patent verdict for Optis has been overturned in the case.
The Court of Appeals sent Optis’ case back to Texas for a new trial after determining that the jury instructions in the previous trial were flawed.
In its appeal of the initial Eastern District Court of Texas ruling, Apple argued that the court had unfairly not separated the different patent claims that it allegedly violated, instead it only asked the jurors to determine if Apple had violated any patents. The federal appeals court agreed with Apple, saying the district court have provided incorrect instructions to the jury, violating Apple’s Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial on each patent infringement claim.
The case will now return to court for another jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas. Optis issued a statement saying that it believes it will ultimately receive fair compensation from the court.
We remain highly confident the Court will establish fair compensation for the critical Optis patents that enable high-speed connectivity for millions of Apple devices. Nothing in this decision challenges the fundamental facts, which demonstrate that Apple is infringing Optis patents and permit a new trial on damages. No patents were found to be invalid by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Optis in 2019 claimed that Apple violated LTE patents that it owned. While Optis was initially awarded $506 million in a 2020 trial, Apple appealed, resulting in the damages being thrown out because Optis is required to license standard-essential patents under fair and reasonable terms and $506 million did not meet that obligation.
The award that was thrown out today was the result of a second jury trial in 2021 that also found in Optis’ favor.
PanOptis and its associated companies, Optis Wireless Technology, Optis Cellular Technology, Unwired Planet, and Unwired Planet International, are patent trolls, which are entities that do not sell products or services but hold patents used to generate revenue through patent litigation.
