A federal jury in Texas has directed that Apple must pay about $308.5 million to Personalized Media Communications LLC (PMC) for infringing a patent associated with digital rights management. After a five-day trial, the jurors ordered Apple to pay a running royalty, which is generally dependent on the level of sales or usage.
PMC had sued claiming Apple infringed its patent with technology including FairPlay, which is used for the distribution of encrypted content from its iTunes, App Store and Apple Music applications.
PMC had originally sued Apple in 2015 alleging Apple’s iTunes service infringed seven of its patents.
Apple successfully challenged PMC’s case at the U.S. patent office, but an appeals court in March last year reversed that decision, paving the way for the trial.
In an emailed statement, Apple said that it was disappointed with the ruling and would appeal.
“Cases like this, brought by companies that don’t make or sell any products, stifle innovation and ultimately harm consumers,”
US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap last week also adopted a magistrate’s recommendation denying Apple’s request to find the patent invalid.
Sugarland, Texas-based PMC has infringement cases pending against companies including Netflix, Akami, Google and Amazon. PMC believes that Netflix and Akamai infringe its patent related to the streaming media transmission.
