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Apple's patent win over Mirror Worlds stays intact

The Supreme Court declines to hear Mirror Worlds' appeal, putting to rest the long-running patent infringement case.

Shara Tibken Former managing editor
Shara Tibken was a managing editor at CNET News, overseeing a team covering tech policy, EU tech, mobile and the digital divide. She previously covered mobile as a senior reporter at CNET and also wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Shara is a native Midwesterner who still prefers "pop" over "soda."
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Shara Tibken
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Mirror Worlds' appeal of an Apple victory in a patent case, putting to rest the long-running dispute.

The nation's highest court said on its site that it has denied Mirror World's request that it consider the case related to software patents for features such as Apple's Cover Flow.

Mirror Worlds was founded by Yale University computer-science Professor David Gelernter. In a 2008 lawsuit, the company accused Apple of infringing on its patents with its Mac OS X operating systems going back to 10.4 "Tiger," as well as in its iOS devices including the iPhone, iPod, and iPad. The company took aim at Apple's Cover Flow, Spotlight, and Time Machine features made available on devices running various iterations of that software.

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A juryinitially found Apple guilty of infringement in October 2010 and tallied up damages of more than $625 million. Apple responded by saying the damages were too high and urged the court to re-evaluate the evidence. Six months later, U.S. District Judge Leonard Davissided with Apple and reversed the decision,noting that while the jury's take on the case was important, the group might have been swayed by Mirror Worlds' argument, which the court said lacked foundation.

In September of 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington upheld the lower court decision from April 2011 that sided with Apple.

We've contacted Apple and Network-1 Security Solutions, which bought Mirror Worlds' patents in May, and will update this report when we have more information.

In the world of mobile, patents have become a key focus area and battleground. Apple, Samsung, and other companies have sued each other repeatedly, accusing each other of ripping off designs and other elements. Apple won a big battle against Samsung last year, with a jury finding Samsung infringed on Apple patents and ordering it to pay Apple $1 billion. But Apple also has faced setbacks, such as the U.S. International Trade Commission ruling earlier in June thatApple infringes on a Samsung patent related to cellular technology.

(Via Bloomberg)