Apple ends 15 years of LTE patent disputes with WiLAN
Apple and WiLAN have signed a patent licensing agreement which concludes a series of disputes over iPhone wireless technologies, going back to 2007.
From the launch of the original iPhone, Apple and non-practicing entity WiLAN have been engaged in multiple suits and countersuits regarding patent infringement. Most recently, a 2020 ruling saw Apple being ordered to pay $109 million to the patent aggregator.
According to Reuters, however, the two firms have now signed a patent licensing agreement which appears to settle all disputes.
WiLAN is a subsidiary of Quarterhill Inc, and itself has a subsidiary named Polaris Innovations. Quarterhill says that the new agreement includes "the settlement and dismissal of all litigation pending between WiLAN and Polaris and Apple in the United States, Canada and Germany."
The complex history of WiLAN and Apple disputes goes back to the 2007 launch of the iPhone. Then WiLAN included Apple in its accusations of multiple companies infringing on its Wi-Fi patents.
At times, Apple has won certain of the lawsuits, such as in 2013 when a two-year trial ended with a jury deciding against WiLAN.
In 2018, WiLAN won a case that meant Apple was initially ordered to pay $145 million for patent infringement. However, in 2019, Apple successfully petitioned for the ruling to be reduced to just $10 million.
None of the parties have commented further. Details of the agreement are being kept confidential.
Read on AppleInsider
From the launch of the original iPhone, Apple and non-practicing entity WiLAN have been engaged in multiple suits and countersuits regarding patent infringement. Most recently, a 2020 ruling saw Apple being ordered to pay $109 million to the patent aggregator.
According to Reuters, however, the two firms have now signed a patent licensing agreement which appears to settle all disputes.
WiLAN is a subsidiary of Quarterhill Inc, and itself has a subsidiary named Polaris Innovations. Quarterhill says that the new agreement includes "the settlement and dismissal of all litigation pending between WiLAN and Polaris and Apple in the United States, Canada and Germany."
The complex history of WiLAN and Apple disputes goes back to the 2007 launch of the iPhone. Then WiLAN included Apple in its accusations of multiple companies infringing on its Wi-Fi patents.
At times, Apple has won certain of the lawsuits, such as in 2013 when a two-year trial ended with a jury deciding against WiLAN.
In 2018, WiLAN won a case that meant Apple was initially ordered to pay $145 million for patent infringement. However, in 2019, Apple successfully petitioned for the ruling to be reduced to just $10 million.
None of the parties have commented further. Details of the agreement are being kept confidential.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
So another patent troll wins. Will patent law ever be reformed?
If an inventor invents something and patents it, he/she has a limited monopoly on its commercialization. If I buy it from the inventor, I take on the same limited monopoly rights. If I can commercialize it right away, that's my right. If it takes me 19.9 years, or if I fail to commercialize it. it's still my property until the patent expires. It's still never YOURS to use until it's in the public domain.
A patent is a piece of property like a house or car. I can't take it just because you've had it for a while or I just want it a lot.
You can challenge the legitimacy of the patent or some or all of its claims. This is how patents works around the world, it's an agreed upon system.
As for lawyers, Apple's and WILANs lawyers get paid whether they win or lose. There is no secret cabal of IP attorneys.
Aside from that, non-practicing entities are very much a perversion of the original intent of patent law in the U.S. The history is easy to look up. It was never intended to enable perpetual rent-seeking.
As for the secret cable stuff, well … it’s a bit more complex than you portray it. And the folks that I know who work in is area of law (or have) absolutely believe that the system has been intentionally warped by powerful interests in both the legal field and politics, spurred on by companies that enable them.
I’m sure there’s more, but I’m out of time, and your slightly ass-chapped tone makes me think trying to convince you isn’t worth that time. (I do get your frustration with knee-jerk reactions though, if I’m interpreting that right.)
It has been established in a court of law that WiLan owns the patent. Apple took it and used it without permission or a payment agreement. Now they have to pay. Tell me why Apple should not pay the rightful owner for using their property?
How do you rationalize Apple shouldn't have to pay or that they should be able by the force of their size and wealth, to take someone else's property and convert to their own use.
That said:
"Patents. A patent is a property right for an investor that's typically granted by a government agency, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent allows the inventor exclusive rights to the invention, which could be a design, process, an improvement, or physical invention such as a machine." (Investopedia)
There is no "perpetual rent seeking" If you cared to read, I mention "limited monopoly"--that's time delimited as in my example.
Yes, patents revert to the public domain, just as I said: "It's still never YOURS to use until it's in the public domain."
There has never been a requirement that the inventor or patent holder must commercialize his/her patent due to some as yet unknown statute.
Because, to be clear, from the beginning, a patent holder, whether the original inventor or an entity who purchased (or licensed) the invention, has always had the absolute right to seek damages from any infringement of the patent.
Beyond all that, what is the logic that requires you to use your invention within a certain timeframe monopoly or lose it? Oh, that's right--it's built right into the granting of the patent---A LIMITED MONOPOLY. So no matter what, everyone gets a shot at your invention when the clock runs out.
I'm on a bunch of patents, I've dealt with all kinds of IP attorneys, patent examiners and office actions in the US and abroad. I'm still waiting to run into the evidence of the all powerful interests that are secretly the force behind the PTO rules. The USPTO systems is very democratic, everyone can play.
I'd go easy on the ad hominems if I were you. The mods don't look kindly on that. And they impress me not at all.