Wireless technology has been around for a very long time, and we often don’t think about it. But wireless technology has also been improving and changing since it started. That means new ideas, hardware, and processes are continually imagined and implemented. That is a good thing for the consumer, but sometimes companies can get into disputes over who owns the rights and patents to specific wireless technology.
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Apple, Google, Samsung, and other providers of mobile devices heavily rely on wireless technology, and they often outright buy smaller companies working on such things. So it’s not unusual to hear that Apple is being sued or taken to court over a dispute over patents and technologies they may not have had permission to use.
In this case, Apple has been ordered to pay $300m after a patent dispute went to a retrial. The dispute claims that PanOptis Patent Management, Optis Cellular, and Unwired Planet were owed the money for past and future use of its wireless technology.
Of course, Apple will likely file an appeal, so nothing is actually set in stone here. The $300m is just a stepping stone for Optis as they are seeking to collect nearly $7 billion from Apple. The wireless technology in question is used not only in iPhones and iPads but also in other Apple products.
A U.K. court may decide to set a global royalty rate, prompting Apple lawyers in July to threaten that the company may pull out of the British market if forced to pay a “commercially unacceptable” amount.
The Texas case involves technology the company claims is critical to implementing the 4G communications standard. Optis says Apple’s smartphones, watches, and tablets that operate over 4G networks were using its patented technology.
Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance has an extensive write-up on the rest of the details, so be sure to check out their story here.
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