A Texas judge has denied Apple a third trial in its patent dispute with Optis technology. The tech giant will subsequently have to pay $300 million to the company over claims that it infringed on patents relating to wireless connectivity.
Apple loses fight for third shot at $300 million Optis patent lawsuit
As reported by Reuters, US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap denied Apple’s motion for a new trial in the case, which means that Apple will have to pay Optis $300 million unless it appeals to a higher court.
The legal battle began in 2019 when Optis sued the tech giant over five patents pertaining to 4G LTE technology which Apple and other manufacturers use for wireless connectivity to provide cellular service. In 2021, a jury came to a verdict and ordered Apple to pay $506 million for infringing upon patents held by Optis and other related companies.
Following the ruling, Apple stated that it would appeal the ruling in the future. This led to a federal judge throwing out the damages and ruling in favor of Apple. However, that decision was overturned and a new trial was ordered to settle the payable amount of damages. At the time, Apple in a statement said that “Optis makes no products and its sole business is to sue companies using patents they accumulate. We will continue to defend against their attempts to extract unreasonable payments for patents they acquire.”
Another trial was held in October 2021. Unfortunately for Apple, the judge did not budge even though it fought rigorously claiming issues with the second trial related to evidence, testimony, and more. The tech giant also said that it had an issue with the amount of money that was being demanded by Optis.
In related news, Apple is involved in another lawsuit with Optis over similar allegations of infringement in the United Kingdom. The case is expected to be fought in July 2022 and could lead Apple to be banned from selling iPhones in the region.
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