Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Apple ordered to fling some spare change at wireless patent troll

In related news: $7.3m-richer troll wanders into Lamborghini garage...

Apple has been ordered to pay Core Wireless Licensing $7.3m for infringing on two patents covering mobile communication. The amount is a rounding error on the iPhone giant's books.

A federal jury in California reached the decision on Thursday, agreeing that the company's iPhones and iPads infringe US patents 6,477,151 (which describes a packet radio telephone service) and 6,633,536 (which covers signaling in a digital mobile communications system). Both patents once upon a time belonged to Nokia. A trial on the issue started earlier this month after years of preamble.

Core Wireless exists solely to sue companies over the use of patents that it has hoarded – it has a lot of patents originally owned by Nokia, for example. It is also an organization that is repeatedly sold to others: in 2011, it was acquired by another patent troll, Mosaid Technologies, which itself was bought by Sterling Partners.

That deal saw the company keep one-third of the income it generates from suing company and enforcing the patents, with the rest going to the original filers.

The award for the Luxembourg-based biz comes after the failures of a similar case last year when a jury found that Apple did not infringe another five of its patents. However, last month, Core Wireless did win an additional $456,000 on top of $2.3m in another case that it won against LG. That extra payment came after a judge decided that LG's "abrupt termination" of licensing discussions with Core Wireless was an indication of wrongdoing.

Apple put up a fight in this most recent case, using two computer engineering professors to testify that the patents in question were covered by prior art. They argued that the details of the 2002/3 patents had already been described in some details by documents written in the 1990s as the mobile phone market started to explode.

The jury disagreed but it also did not grant the $24m that Core Wireless claimed it was owed. The actual technology in question has since been superseded and is being pulled out of the modern phones and tablets so in that sense, this is likely to be a one-off payday for the company. Unless it can find other patents to gobble, this troll may soon be on its way out. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like