Apple ordered to pay $ 300 million in royalties on wireless technology patent

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was ordered to pay $ 300 million for the use of the company’s wireless technology in iPhones and other products.

What happened: A Texas judge upheld a jury ruling that Apple owes PanOptis Patent Management and its Optis Cellular and Unwired Planet units for the patents held by the company on the LTE cellular standard. Optis claims that Apple products that used 4G networks used its patented technology.

The order comes after a retrial of the patent litigation case. In the first trial, a jury awarded Optis $ 506.2 million, according to a report by Bloomberg.

In April, United States District Court Judge Rodney Gilstrap upheld the jury’s finding of liability but ordered a new trial for damages. The new lawsuit focused on the amount Apple had to pay Optis in royalties.

Apple has released a statement saying the company plans to appeal the decision. “Optis does not manufacture any product and its only activity is to prosecute companies using the patents they accumulate,” the statement said. “We will continue to defend ourselves against their attempts to obtain unreasonable payments for the patents they acquire.”

And after: Optis tried to raise around $ 7 billion from Apple. In a related case, a UK judge is considering instituting a global royalty rate. Apple has indicated that it could withdraw from the UK market if it is forced to pay a “commercially unacceptable” amount.

Optis claims all fair deals were turned down by Apple and accused the tech giant of being a “reluctant licensee,” a central issue in the London lawsuit.

See more Benzinga

© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.