After finding that Apple willfully infringed on a patent, EDTX has adjured Apple to pay $22 million to Cellular Communications Equipment LLC, a subsidiary of Acacia Research. CCE holds a portfolio of telecommunications patents, mostly into Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technologies. Attorneys from Caldwell Cassady & Curry, a high-stakes civil litigation firm specializing in patent infringement and co-founder disputes, represented CCE in the Eastern District of Texas case.The lawsuit, filed in January 2014, accused Apple of selling multiple products that infringe upon the U.S. Patent No. 8,055,820. The patent is titled ”Apparatus, system, and method for designating a buffer status reporting format based on detecting pre-selected buffer conditions”. The wrangle started when CCE impeached Apple of also infringing six other of its patents. By the time the cases went to trial, only one patent was in the stand. That patent was acquired by CCE from Nokia Corp. Engineer Benoist Sebire.
Apple attempted to prove that the claims of the ‘820 patent were invalid. However, the jury rejected the assertions made, as the evidence submitted was not convincing. Since the infringement was found to be willful, the patent holder can appeal to court towards enhancing the damage up to 3 times, which can roughly be around $68 million in this particular litigation.
According to USPTO data and MaxVal’s own research, Apple has not yet confirmed whether it will appeal the decision.
| Type |
Names |
| Case Number | 6:14-cv-00251 |
| Court | Texas Eastern District Court |
| Filed date | 04/07/14 |
| Judge | K. Nicole Mitchell |
| Plaintiff | Cellular Communications Equipment LLC |
| Plaintiff Attorney | Jeffrey Ray Bragalone |
| Plaintiff Law Firm | Bragalone Conroy PC |
| Counter Claimant | Apple Inc. |
| Defendant | Apple Inc. | AT&T Inc. | AT&T Mobility LLC|Verizon Communications, Inc.| Cellco Partnership doing business as Verizon Wireless|Sprint Corporation |Sprint Corporation |Sprint Solutions, Inc.| Sprint Spectrum L.P.| Boost Mobile, LLC|T-Mobile USA, Inc.| T-Mobile US, Inc. |
| Counter Defendant | Cellular Communications Equipment LLC |
| Defendant Attorney | Douglas E Lumish |
| Defendant Law Firm | Latham & Watkins LLP |
| Product | Apple mobile devices and services for mobile device communications |
| Patent | US6377804|US6819923|US7215962|US7941174|US8055820|US6810019 |
| Closed date | Yet to be closed |
| Basis of Termination | Judgment on the Merits – Defendant |
| Outcome of District court judgment | Defendant |
| Damages amount $ | $22,118,216 |
