A federal jury in Tyler, Texas ruled on Tuesday that Apple must pay $532.9 million in damages to Smartflash LLC. Bloomberg reports that the jury found iTunes to infringe on its patents related to “managing access through payment systems.”
The original complaint was filed in 2013, with Smartflash asking for $852 million. The company argued it was entitled to a percentage of sales of Apple’s devices, including the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers, that were used to access iTunes.
Apple spokesman Kristin Huguet says Smartflash is your typical patent troll. “Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no U.S. presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented.”
The Cupertino firm, of course, plans to appeal the ruling, but the win has given Smartflash confidence as it moves to take on other tech giants including Samsung, Amazon and Google. Google is trying to have its case transferred to a court in California.
“The jury was very attentive, took good notes and worked very hard,” Smartflash lawyer John Ward said after the verdict was announced. “We think they got it right.”
Source: Bloomberg