(By Balaseshan) Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone has infringed on three patents held by MobileMedia Ideas LLC, a company partly owned by Nokia and Sony Corp. of America, a federal jury said.
MobileMedia, a patent holding company owned by MPEG LA unit Tagivan, Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), filed the suit in 2010 against the iPhone maker, claiming for violation of 14 patents. It was later narrowed down to three patents that relate to camera phones, call handling and call rejection.
A jury in the United States District Court in Delaware found that three patents owned by MobileMedia Ideas -- 6,427,078 covering camera phones, 6,070,068 covering call handling and 6,253,075 covering call rejection -- are valid and infringed by Apple's iPhones.
MobileMedia Ideas has a portfolio of inventions widely used in smart phones, mobile phones and other portable devices including personal computers, laptops, netbooks, personal media players, e-book readers, cameras and hand-held game consoles.
MobileMedia Ideas' more than 300 patents cover a wide array of features such as call handling, speed dial, database searches, audio download, playback, still picture and video processing.
"MobileMedia Ideas is pleased that the jury confirmed Apple's iPhones use our patented technology. MobileMedia Ideas' objective is to make these important technologies and others used in mobile phone and other portable devices widely available. We welcome Apple and others to enter into licenses for the use of these technologies," said MobileMedia Ideas President and CEO Larry Horn.
MobileMedia Ideas presently has cases pending against Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) in the U.S. District court for the Northern District of Texas and against HTC Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
On November 12, HTC and Apple have reached a global settlement that includes the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by both parties. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
On November 5, a federal judge has dismissed a suit filed by Apple against Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Motorola for patent licensing practices following an eventful pre-trial week, according to the Foss Patents. This is already the second Apple versus Motorola Mobility U.S. trial to be canceled this year.
AAPL is trading down 2.58% at $516.03 on Friday. The stock has been trading between $378.31 and $705.07 for the past 52 weeks.