Apple, along with several other major tech firms, was sued in a Texas federal court for patent infringement by Smartflash LLC. Smartfish is a well known patent troll that has made millions in the past with this type of lawsuit. This one, however, is particularly big. It is related to the way iTunes handled data storage and access, which they claim infringes on several of their patents.
The Texas jury started with the claim against Apple, but they will move on to Samsung, Amazon and Google (as well as other smaller companies) in the near future.
Apple has already confirmed that they will appeal the ruling, and many expect that they will take it to the supreme court if necessary due to the high dollar amount of the case.
According to the information available at the case, it does seem that Apple did use the patented technologies, though it seems ridiculous to think it was worth $533 million. In addition, the company that owns the patent didn’t actually come up with the technology themselves anyway, as patent trolls virtually never do.
There is no date yet for the appeals hearing. It is still possible, of course, that Apple and Smartflash will just settle the issue. Smartflash clearly has quite a bargaining chip right now and may try to secure a good settlement before they actually have to defend the judgment in appeals court, where most people believe the judgment would be reduced.
