Apple seeks over $15M in fees from patent holdings firm for 'frivolous' lawsuit
A federal court motion filed last Friday reveals Apple is looking to garnish more than $15 million in attorneys' fees and costs from non-practicing patent holdings firm Unwired Planet, which engaged in a series "kitchen-sink" lawsuits targeting iOS device connectivity features.
Unwired Planet, formerly known as Openwave, first took action against Apple -- and RIM -- in a complaint concerning five patents filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2011. After untenable claim constructions forced UP to abandon the ITC case, the firm applied three of the same patents to a second suit in Delaware district court and a third in Nevada.
Apple's motion stems from UP's Nevada case in which a whopping 247 claims from a total of ten patents were asserted against iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, much more than can be reasonably expected to go to trial. The case was subsequently transferred to the Northern District of California where Apple won a non-infringement ruling. Apple contends the patents in suit do not cover technology applied in its iOS device lineup.
Law360 reported on Apple's most recent appeal on Monday.
Apple argues UP's litigation tactics involve conflating case details, refusing to abide by court standards and asserting an obscene number of claims in a strategy characterized as "scattershot." Further, Apple argues UP knew of its portfolio's obsolescence and chose to wage a war of attrition rather than win on merit.
"Nevertheless, UP asserted a menagerie of claims against Apple, presumably in the hope that something would stick and that Apple would tire of spending resources on litigating claims that would inevitably be abandoned," the filing reads.
According to the document, Apple spent more than $12.6 million in attorneys' fees and about $2.5 million in non-taxable costs. UP is also facing fees resulting from its court action in Delaware.
Before becoming a licensing company, UP was an early player in mobile Internet access technology. Its patents, including claims asserted against Apple, involved methods and systems for offloading data processing operations cellphones were incapable of completing to intermediary servers. UP claims it was behind the first Wireless Application Protocol deployment and boasts a patent portfolio that includes more than 2,500 patent assets pertaining to mobile technologies.
Unwired Planet, formerly known as Openwave, first took action against Apple -- and RIM -- in a complaint concerning five patents filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2011. After untenable claim constructions forced UP to abandon the ITC case, the firm applied three of the same patents to a second suit in Delaware district court and a third in Nevada.
Apple's motion stems from UP's Nevada case in which a whopping 247 claims from a total of ten patents were asserted against iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, much more than can be reasonably expected to go to trial. The case was subsequently transferred to the Northern District of California where Apple won a non-infringement ruling. Apple contends the patents in suit do not cover technology applied in its iOS device lineup.
Law360 reported on Apple's most recent appeal on Monday.
Apple argues UP's litigation tactics involve conflating case details, refusing to abide by court standards and asserting an obscene number of claims in a strategy characterized as "scattershot." Further, Apple argues UP knew of its portfolio's obsolescence and chose to wage a war of attrition rather than win on merit.
"Nevertheless, UP asserted a menagerie of claims against Apple, presumably in the hope that something would stick and that Apple would tire of spending resources on litigating claims that would inevitably be abandoned," the filing reads.
According to the document, Apple spent more than $12.6 million in attorneys' fees and about $2.5 million in non-taxable costs. UP is also facing fees resulting from its court action in Delaware.
Before becoming a licensing company, UP was an early player in mobile Internet access technology. Its patents, including claims asserted against Apple, involved methods and systems for offloading data processing operations cellphones were incapable of completing to intermediary servers. UP claims it was behind the first Wireless Application Protocol deployment and boasts a patent portfolio that includes more than 2,500 patent assets pertaining to mobile technologies.
Comments
UP screwed up. They should have filed in East Texas.
Why do I suspect the judge will rule that Apple is trying to take advantage of the legal system due to making this request? UP should be allowed to go free since Apple has so much money and $15 million is not even a rounding error to a company such as Apple. /s
Apple trying to take advantage of the legal system? What do you think the patent trolls UP were trying to do? I hope Apple buries them in the ground. They should drag the case out forever and bankrupt these slimy bastards with legal fees....this way if they don't get a positive ruling in the courts, they'll still get a positive outcome.
In some jurisdictions if you sue someone and lose you automatically have to pay their legal costs.
Evil Apple once again picking on the ‘little guy’ just like they did the ‘indie’ artists. Maybe Samsung can slap Apple down this time instead of Taylor Swift. /s
People still seem to think that owning a patent and seeking to get royalties from it without making anything (NPE) makes them a patent troll. This is not the case. Patents are assets and an owner is allowed to do whatever they want with their assets. Unwired Planet went far beyond that in this case using standard patent troll tactics (as mentioned in the article).
Go get'em Apple
As Runbu said, you'd be wise to learn what /s means. :rolleyes:
1. Trolls make no such distinction between rich and poor. In fact, they make quite a bit of money from smaller companies who can't afford to fight them. If paying off Apple will weaken or destroy this company, all the better. They won't be able to bully little companies.
2. Some of these trolls incorporated in ways that leave them with very few assets to grab should they lose. Apple may never see this money, although I guess it could pick up those patents.
The second item is often the key difference between a legitimate patent holder and a troll. A troll never intends to use its patents and thus needs to make no investments. It merely lurks in the shadows, hoping a situation will develop when it can exploit what are often deliberately vague patents. If it loses in court and is required to pay, it can say, "Yah, yah, yah. I don't have any money. You won't get a penny."
Why do I suspect the judge will rule that Apple is trying to take advantage of the legal system due to making this request? UP should be allowed to go free since Apple has so much money and $15 million is not even a rounding error to a company such as Apple. /s
Glad you were being sarcastic. Patent trolls, especially ones that produce nothing but paper deserve to be penalized if their attempts to get money fails.
Did you miss the /s at the end of leavingthebigG's post?
my bad...I did miss it.
As Runbu said, you'd be wise to learn what /s means.
yes, i know what /s means. it was more a question of just not seeing it.