The Figurative Version of "Works with Apple CarPlay" now a Registered Trademark
Will Samsung ever have the Courage to deliver on their Foldable Smartphone Dream?

In 2015 Smartflash won a $533 Million Verdict against Apple, but Two out of Three Patents have now been invalidated

1af 88 cover


 

Last February Patently Apple posted a report titled "Smartflash wins their Lawsuit against Apple who Vows to Appeal." Patently Apple was first to report on the Smartflash patent lawsuit back in 2013. It's now being reported today that two of the patents in that verdict have been successfully invalidated.

 

Bloomberg reports this afternoon that "Apple Inc. has succeeded in getting two additional Smartflash LLC patents invalidated, bringing it closer to escaping a $533 million patent verdict.

 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 26 invalidated two of three patents owned by Smartflash, which won the award after a jury trial against the iPhone maker in February 2015.

 

A three-judge panel at the patent agency found that the two patents never should have been issued in the first place because the idea of storing and paying for data is an abstract concept, not a specific invention. In March, the agency said the same thing about a third Smartflash patent.

 

The ruling, however, doesn't end the case. Smartflash can ask the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to reconsider and, if that doesn't work, file an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

 

The Federal Circuit, a Washington court that handles all patent appeals, is already considering the validity of the patents and whether Apple's iTunes software used the Smartflash technology. Apple filed an appeal of the liability finding and the two sides are submitting their written arguments."

 

Apple had no comment to make at this time. For more on this, see the full Bloomberg report here.

 

10. 1 PA - Bar - NewsAbout Comments: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments.

 

 

Comments

The comments to this entry are closed.