Apple is ordered to pay $300 million as a penalty in a patent dispute after a retrial. The penalty was ordered by a Texas jury. Reuters reported that Apple violated Optis Wireless Technology’s patents by using the technology in its iPhones, iPads, and Watches.
The Register reported that the five patents related to the case were once owned by LG, Panasonic, and Samsung which were later obtained by Optis. Last year Optis was awarded $506 million by a jury in the dispute but it was later taken down. A new trial focusing on damages only was later ordered. The US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap mentioned that the amount ordered by the first jury didn’t consider whether the amount awarded was “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory”.
Apple does not seem that it will obey the order. According to The Verge Apple plans to appeal against the verdict as confirmed by an Apple spokesperson. He wrote “Optis makes no products and its sole business is to sue companies using patents they accumulate. We will continue to defend against their attempts to extract unreasonable payments for patents they acquire.”
Apple had a revenue of $81.4 billion in the third quarter as reported last month.
