US jury asks Apple to pay Optis $300 mn in patent dispute
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San Francisco: In a patent dispute, a jury in Texas has asked Apple to pay $300 million as damages to Optis Wireless and its constellation of companies.
According to reports, 4G/LTE tech in iPhones, iPads, and Watches were deemed to have infringed Optis' communications patents. The reports says that the five patents in question were once belonged to Samsung, Panasonic and LG and were obtained by Optis.
Last year, a jury awarded Optis $506 million in the dispute, but US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap vacated that award in April, ordering a new trial focused only on damages.
Meanwhile, an Apple spokesperson said in a statement that "Optis makes no products and its sole business is to sue companies using patents they accumulate".
The company spokesperson added that Apple will continue to defend against attempts of Optis to extract unreasonable payments for patents they acquire. According to Apple, Optis doesn't do anything other than sue corporations like Telsa, Huawei and ZTE.
Optis claimed Apple was unwilling to give a fair royalty rate for its patented designs.