Apple infringed on patent – ordered to pay $8m

Added by Erik West on July 11, 2011

Apple was ordered on Friday to pay $8m for infringing on patents held by Personal Audio LLC.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Apple had infringed on patents held by a patent holding company that originally sued Apple for $84m in damages. The patents describe an audio player that’s capable of receiving playlists, allowing users to skip forward and backwards through the playlist.

About one month before the trial, Apple introduced 418 documents totalling more than 6,300 pages. The judge fined Apple $10,000 for a pattern of failing to meet its obligations to search its records and files, and question employees known to have information that Apple my use to support its claims or defences and to disclose such information in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The claim was filed based on patents that Personal Audio LLC submitted in 1996 and 2001, making both older than Apple’s iPod which was launched in 2001.

The $8m judgement is small when compared to the $8bn in revenue the iPod brought in during the previous year alone. Apple has not yet stated if it will appeal the ruling.