The jury in Marshall, Texas, found that five patents were infringed. It also found that the infringement was willful, which means District Judge
Optis and its partners in the case,
“Lawsuits like this by companies who accumulate patents simply to harass the industry only serve to stifle innovation and harm consumers,” Apple said in a statement.
The case is in the same eastern Texas district where Apple is facing another potential half-billion verdict. VirnetX Holding Corp. is seeking royalties on Apple’s Virtual Private Network on Demand. An earlier jury had awarded $503 million, but an appeals court ordered a new trial on damages after tossing part of the underlying liability finding.
The
Apple was less successful in getting the Optis trial pushed to October, though its
Lawyers for the closely held Optis said it was the first patent jury trial in the U.S. since the pandemic began.
“The court was very careful and conscious of how the jury was spaced,” said Optis’s lawyer,
The case is Optis Wireless Technology v. Apple Inc.,
(Adds lawyer comment in ninth paragraph.)
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Elizabeth Wasserman, Joe Schneider
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