Legal Dispute Concluding After 4 Years
Apple has lost a lawsuit related to 4th generation mobile communication (4G) patents used in iPhones and iPads, bringing an end to a legal dispute that lasted four years.
According to major foreign media on the 4th (local time), the London Court of Appeal in the UK dismissed Apple's appeal requesting a retrial of the first-instance ruling that Apple infringed on the patents of mobile technology company Optis. The Court of Appeal did not accept any of Apple's claims and ruled, as in the first trial, that Apple infringed the patents.
Specialized media such as AppleInsider reported that due to this loss, Apple may have to pay up to 5 billion pounds (approximately 8.26 trillion KRW) in damages, although the exact amount has not yet been determined.
Optis, headquartered in Texas, filed a lawsuit in 2019 claiming that Apple infringed on eight of its essential patents related to 4G technology used in Apple's iPhones and iPads. Last year, the first-instance court ruled in favor of Optis. However, it recognized that only two of the eight patents were essential to 4G and found that Apple infringed those two patents.
However, in May, Apple appealed, arguing that the two patents in question were not essential to the 4G standard and that Apple did not infringe Optis's patents. Apple also claimed that these patents were not used in the UK.
The Court of Appeal also rejected Apple's claims. As a result, Apple now faces a situation where it must pay a large sum in damages to Optis for patent infringement.
Apple has also lost a lawsuit filed by Optis in the United States. In 2020, a Texas court jury ordered Apple to pay $560 million (approximately 726.3 billion KRW) to Optis for patent infringement. This amount was later reduced to $300 million.
Neither Apple nor Optis has issued a separate statement following the Court of Appeal's ruling.
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