Ondrej Holzman In February, a trial in Texas ordered Apple that it must pay over half a billion dollars for infringing Smartflash's patents. However, federal judge Rodney Gilstrap has now thrown the $532,9 million off the table, saying the entire amount will have to be recalculated.
A new trial was scheduled for September 14, as Gilstrap claimed his "jury instructions may have 'distorted' the jurors' understanding of the damages Apple should pay."
Apple was originally supposed to pay Smartflash for infringing certain patents in iTunes held by the Texas firm, related to digital rights management (DRM), data storage and access management through payment systems. At the same time, Smartflash is a company that does not own or create anything other than seven patents.
This was also argued by Apple in February when it defended itself in court. While Smartflash demanded roughly twice as much compensation ($852 million), the iPhone maker wanted to pay only less than $5 million.
"Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no presence in the United States, and seeks to use our patent system to reap rewards for technology invented by Apple," said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet.
Now Apple has a chance that it will not have to pay even the 532,9 million dollars, however, this will be decided only by the recalculation of the compensation in September. But whatever the verdict, the Californian giant is expected to appeal.
