On Monday, Apple scored a big legal victory in one of its longest-running patent battles, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a $300 million damages award the company had been ordered to pay to Optis Wireless Technology.
This latest decision (via Reuters) marks the second time a nine-figure damages verdict in this case has been thrown out. Now, the case is heading back to Texas for yet another trial.
What’s this case about again?
Optis, a Texas-based IP management firm, first sued Apple back in 2019, claiming that the iPhone and other Apple products violated several LTE-related patents.
A jury initially hit Apple with a $506 million damages verdict in 2020, but that was later tossed by District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, who ordered a new trial to reassess damages.
At the time, the judge cited concerns that the award didn’t properly account for Optis’ obligation to license its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
The second jury awarded Optis $300 million instead. Apple appealed, and despite being told it wouldn’t get a second (or rather, third) chance, it just won that appeal and a new trial.
Why this latest verdict got overturned
According to the Federal Circuit, the problem wasn’t about the specific damages number this time, but rather about how the jury was asked to reach its decision in the first place.
In the new ruling, the three-judge panel said that Judge Gilstrap’s jury instructions improperly bundled multiple patents into a single infringement question, which “deprived Apple of its right to a unanimous verdict on each legal claim against it.”
In other words: The jury wasn’t given a chance to decide separately on each of the patents Optis accused Apple of infringing, so now the whole case (covering both infringement and damages) is headed back for yet another retrial in Texas.
And if you’ve got a good memory and are thinking, “Wait, didn’t this case have something to do with the UK?”, you’re half right.
What happens is that Optis is also suing Apple overseas for infringing related LTE patents, and just last month, a UK court ruled that Apple owes Optis about $502 million for that. Apple has said it plans to appeal, and although both cases run completely independently, this U.S. ruling might just give its legal team a bit of extra momentum across the pond.
Update: in a statement provided to 9to5Mac, an Optis spokesperson said:
“We remain highly confident the Court will establish fair compensation for the critical Optis patents that enable high-speed connectivity for millions of Apple devices. Nothing in this decision challenges the fundamental facts, which demonstrate that Apple is infringing Optis patents and permit a new trial on damages. No patents were found to be invalid by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.”
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