NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc has been ordered to pay $532.9 million after a federal jury in Texas found that its iTunes software infringed three patents owned by patent licensing firm Smartflash LLC.
Though Smartflash had been asking for $852 million in damages, Tuesday night’s verdict was still a blow to Apple.
The jury, which deliberated for eight hours, determined Apple had not only used Smartflash’s patents without permission, but did so willfully.
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The case is Smartflash LLC, et al v. Apple, Inc, et al, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 13-cv-447.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York and Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates and Ted Kerr)
