Apple just scored a major win in one of its longest-running legal battles. A U.S. federal appeals court has overturned a $300 million jury verdict that found the company liable for infringing LTE patents owned by Optis Wireless.
The ruling, handed down on June 17, found that the trial judge overseeing the case failed to properly instruct the jury, specifically by lumping multiple patent claims into a single question, as reported by Reuters. That, the court said, denied Apple its constitutional right to a unanimous verdict on each individual claim.
The case now heads back to the drawing board. A new trial will decide not only whether Apple infringed the patents, but also whether it owes Optis anything at all.
A Patent War That Won’t Die
Optis first sued Apple in 2019, claiming the iPhone maker was using its LTE patents without paying fair and reasonable licensing fees, a standard requirement for any company that holds what’s known as a standard-essential patent.
Apple lost the first round in 2020, with a Texas jury ordering it to pay $506 million. That was later slashed, and a second jury in 2021 awarded $300 million instead. But Apple appealed, and now that verdict has been tossed, too.
This legal saga is part of a broader fight over how much companies like Apple should pay for critical mobile technology. Optis argues it’s owed hundreds of millions for tech used in iPhones, while Apple insists it’s being asked to overpay for patents that should be licensed on fair terms.
Apple’s battle with Optis isn’t just limited to U.S. courts. A UK court recently ruled that Apple must cough up around $502 million for licensing the same set of LTE patents through 2027. Apple is appealing that decision as well.
With the U.S. verdict now overturned, the case returns to a Texas court for a full do-over—meaning another trial, another jury, and potentially another shot for Optis to claim damages. Whether they’ll succeed again remains to be seen, especially now that Apple has a clearer legal path to challenge each patent claim one by one.
For now, though, Cupertino can breathe a little easier. One less billion-dollar headache to deal with—at least temporarily.
