Court of Appeal rejects Apple’s “non-infringement” arguments as patent case rumbles on
Apple has failed in London’s Court of Appeal to invalidate two crucial wireless communications patents used in iPhones and iPads that US patent holder Optis Cellular Technology LLC has accused it of infringing.
Reuters reports that Texas-based Optis sued Apple in 2019 over its use of “standard-essential patents” that Optis says are essential to certain technological standards, such as 4G.
The ruling is the latest decision in the legal battle between Apple and Optis, which has prompted six separate trials and several appellate hearings in Britain alone. Four considered the validity and essential status of the patents, and a fifth look at whether either party had made offers to licence the patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
London’s High Court ruled last year that two of Optis’s 4G patents were so-called standard essential patents and that Apple had infringed them. Apple appealed against that decision in May, arguing that the two patents in issue were not essential to 4G standards and that it had not infringed the patents.
But Apple’s challenge was rejected by the Court of Appeal, with Judge Colin Birss saying in a written ruling that the High Court was “right to reject (Apple’s) argument for non-infringement” and on the issue of the patents being essential.
The Court of Appeal last month upheld an appeal by Optis against an earlier decision to revoke two other 4G-related patents, following a ruling in October that Optis is entitled to an injunction to stop Apple infringing its patents before a court has ruled on the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms of use. Apple was granted permission earlier this year to appeal against the October ruling.
According to Law360 [subscription] the UK Supreme Court agreed in June to consider whether Optis was entitled to an “immediate injunction” against Apple once the courts have deemed the patents valid, but a date has not yet been set for the hearing.
Apple and Optis have not yet commented on the latest decision, which now looks likely to head to the UK’s top court.
Patently painful
Apple’s legal team continues to get a solid workout globally. The latest UK case is a continuation of an action in the US in which Optis won a US$506.2m case against Apple for infringing on a series of 4G LTE patents. This was later cut to US$300m.
Apple attorneys have already reportedly threatened a UK market exit if the courts order “unacceptable” patent fees in the long-running dispute with Optis.
Last December, its patent wars with Ericsson finally subsided when the two companies signed an “agreement includes global cross-license for patented cellular standard-essential technologies and grants certain other patent rights”, ending all ongoing patent-related legal disputes between them.
Last week, Nokia announced it had signed a new long-term patent licence agreement with Apple, as the current licence between the companies was due to expire at the end of 2023. While terms of the agreement remain confidential between the companies, it covers Nokia’s inventions in 5G and other technologies.