A group of five patent trolls has sued Apple for infringing on seven of their patents in East Texas. Out of this, they managed to acquire six patents from the likes of Samsung, LG, Ericsson, and Panasonic.

They claim that all Apple products featuring LTE infringe on their patents starting from the iPhone 5 to iPads to Apple Watch Series 4 LTE. The patent trolls operate under the group Optis Wireless Technology LLC. The patents they are suing Apple related to the LTE standard.

In their lawsuit, the patent trolls claim that licensing negotiations with Apple did not pan out as the latter refused to pay them royalties on FRAND terms for their patent portfolio. They claim to have met Apple executives multiple times as a part of their negotiations. Ultimately, when the talks failed to materialize, the patent trolls sued Apple.

Since their discussions with Apple did not bear any fruit, the plaintiffs have now turned to the court seeking recovery of their damages in the form of a reasonable royalty payment. The same group had previously managed to win a case against Huawei and won $10.6 million in damages.

Given that Huawei lost the case, it is possible that Apple also ends up losing this lawsuit. The company is a frequent target of patent trolls who sue it hoping to make some easy money. Plus, the laws in East Texas make it easy for patent trolls to sue tech giants and make money off them. This is the reason why Apple is shutting down its stores in Eastern Texas to avoid such lawsuits.

[Via MacRumors]

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