iPhone infringes on patents from MobileMedia, jury rules

Ruling finds that Apple violated three patents from MobileMedia, a holding company jointly owned by Sony, Nokia, and MPEG LA.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer

Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.

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Lance Whitney

Dec. 13, 2012 8:43 a.m. PT

Apple has lost a few rounds in a courtroom case pitting it against patent holder MobileMedia.

A U.S. court ruled today that the iPhone infringes on three patents held by MobileMedia, a spokesperson for the patent holder told CNET.

One of the patents, No. 6,427,078, refers to a camera phone technology, according to the spokesperson. The other two patents, No. 6,253,075 and No. 6,070,068, deal with call handling.

A document of the verdict posted on Scribd shows the jury found that Apple directly infringed on the three patents in question. The jury also ruled against Apple's attempt to have the patent claims rendered invalid.

The jury trial kicked off just last month in a case in which Apple was accused of violating patents held by MobileMedia, a company jointly owned by Sony, Nokia, and a Denver-based outfit called MPEG LA, which licenses patents for the MPEG standards.

MobileMedia holds about 300 patents, mostly from Sony and Nokia, that can apply to just about any electronic device, including smartphones, PCs, cameras, and game consoles. The company launched its suit against Apple in July 2010, alleging that 18 of its patents were violated.

Verdict