Apple fends off 4G wireless patent lawsuit at third trial

By Blake Brittain

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Apple AAPL.O won a defense verdict on Thursday in a lawsuit by intellectual-property management company Optis Wireless, which had accused the tech giant of violating its patent rights in 4G LTE wireless technology.

Optis had won verdicts of $506 million and $300 million against Apple in earlier trials in the long-running case in Marshall, Texas. Both verdicts were later overturned on appeal.

An Optis spokesperson said on Friday that the company would appeal the Thursday verdict.

"Apple’s stated strategy is to devalue and delay paying for the underlying patented technology of the innovation it relies on to offer high speed LTE communications," the spokesperson said. "While we respect the jury’s decision, we are incredibly disappointed by this outcome."

"We thank the jury for their time, and we’re pleased they rejected Optis’ false claims," an Apple spokesperson said. "Optis makes no products, and its sole business is to sue companies, which it has done repeatedly to Apple in an attempt to obtain an excessive payout."

An Optis spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.

Plano, Texas-based Optis and its affiliates sued Apple in 2019, arguing that the tech giant's iPhones and other products violated their patent rights in technology related to the 4G LTE wireless standard. Apple has denied the allegations and argued the patents are invalid.

A jury found in 2020 that Apple owed $506 million for infringing Optis' patents. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap ordered a new trial on damages in 2021 after finding the award may not have been in line with Optis' responsibility to license the patents on fair and reasonable terms.

A new jury awarded Optis $300 million in damages after a retrial later that year. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned that verdict last year, finding Gilstrap had improperly worded the jury verdict form by combining all of the patents at issue into a single infringement question.

A U.K. court separately ruled last year that Apple owes Optis $502 million for infringing Optis' UK wireless patents. The U.K. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal from Apple in June.