Apple has prevailed in a patent lawsuit concerning the sale and distribution of DRM-protected content, but did not win on all points. The lawsuit brought against Apple by ContentGuard has been dismissed after a jury found Apple did not infringe on five antipiracy patents, but at the same time the jury decided Apple did not do enough to prove the patents were invalid in court, meaning that other companies could still be sued over the very same patents in the future.
A Pendrell subsidiary, ContentGuard went after Apple in 2013, reports Reuters, with the claim devices such as the iPhone and iPad, as well as iTunes and other content-related apps, used its patents to distribute media and restrict the potential readers, viewers, and listeners. Apple denied these claims of infringement, suggesting the patents themselves were in fact invalid.
“Many leading companies around the world have recognized the value of our technological innovations and have been willing to pay a fair and reasonable amount to lawfully use these innovations in their own products” said James Baker, ContentGuard’s vice president for licensing and strategic development, in a statement received by Apple World Today. “After significant time, effort, and expense have been invested by ContentGuard to resolve these matters amicably, it is unfortunate that we are forced to resort to the courts to protect the significant investment we have made in innovation.”
The jury in a Texas federal court sided with Apple over the infringement aspect of the lawsuit, but disagreed over the invalidity claims. Apple declined to comment about the lawsuit. Similar lawsuits were levied by ContentGuard against Google and Samsung in a separate case in 2014, but ContentGuard lost against both companies in a ruling in September.
