Apple ordered to pay patent troll Optis $502M, despite threat to leave UK market

Apple has been ordered to pay Optis $502M for the use of standards-essential 4G patents in both iPhones and cellular iPads. The court ruled in favor of the patent troll, despite an unconvincing attempt by Apple’s lawyer to claim that the company might withdraw the iPhone from sale in the UK if it was forced to pay … Optis is what is politely known as a patent assertion entity, or less politely as a patent troll. These companies don’t invent anything but instead buy up patents with the specific intent to file lawsuits against companies they allege to be infringing them. In this case, Optis bought a number of what are known as standards-essential ones, meaning that it’s impossible to make an LTE device without incorporating the patented technology. This means that licenses should be sold on FRAND terms: Fair, Reasonable, And Non-Discriminatory. The problem with this, however, is that there is no legal definition of what FRAND means, resulting in court battles when a patent owner cons ... Read full article.