Apple loses lengthy case against ‘patent troll’

Apple was supposed to be having a pretty good week. Word has just gotten out that the Cupertino, California-based tech company has surpassed Coca-Cola to become the most valuable brand in the world on Interbrand's annual report. But it doesn't look like Apple will have much time to enjoy the achievement. Instead, it needs to deal with the fallout of a recent decision by an East Texas judge. 

As this blog has mentioned previously, the East District of Texas has a reputation for being particularly friendly to "patent trolls"—individuals or organizations that exist solely to file lawsuits against businesses. According to a report by Business Insider, a judge in East Texas has ended a two years of litigation between Apple and that patent holding company Lodsys, LLC by rejecting Apple's claims against them.

Two years ago, Lodsys started making deals with the many small developers it was suing at the time. By paying Lodsys 0.575 percent of revenue, the developers could avoid an expensive trial.

Apple, however, would not stand for it, and accused Lodsys of settling claims that "it has no right to assert" in the first place.

Apple also argued that it was helping the "judicial economy" by putting this case forward, because it was trying to "[reduce] the potential burden … of countless claims against the Apple iOS-based app developers."

The ability of Lodsys to continue its actions demonstrates the importance of fighting back against patent trolls before they can settle. A Phoenix business attorney can help victimized businesses take on this challenge.

Categorised in: Litigation

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