In the world of technology, there are days when even well-established brands cannot attract other brands. It seems that this “time of bliss” hits Apple more often than usual…
To date, we have witnessed Apple creeping in courts under different names many times. Especially when it comes to patents, Apple takes the breath with lawyers. Supreme CourtThe technology giant, which is frequently “guested” by .
The main source of the lawsuits is Apple’s insistence on patent infringement. The company, which has often hit the wall, has often tried its luck over the years.
Samsung had gotten away with it thanks to the Supreme Court.
apple, allegedly copying iPhone designs Samsung’s $399 million fine asked him to pay. The court sided with Samsung and ruled that a patent infringer is not always required to distribute all of the profits from the sale of products using stolen designs where it covers only certain components and not the entire designs.
Let us remind you that at that time, Samsung had to waste $548 million on Apple due to accusations that it was again infringing iPhone patents and copying its distinctive appearance. in Washington in May 2015. US Federal Court of Appealsupheld the patent infringement decision, but said the iPhone’s appearance cannot be protected by trademarks. Thus, Samsung pocketed $382 million of the loss.
No, using a unique charging port…
This time, Apple is taking its place in the losers club. European Commissionprotected against. According to the decision of the commission, all technology companies a single charging port had to use it. With the adoption of the new rules, Apple will now have to use the C-Type port instead of the Lightning port.
In fact, we should say that the law is quite forward-looking. in Europe “common charger” The acceptance of the event was something that was expected for more than 10 years. Like all other manufacturers, Apple has to join this caravan.
Apple could not keep pace and also haunted Qualcomm.
Qualcomm Despite their fundamental disagreements with the company, Apple could not help but try to revoke three Qualcomm smartphone patents. Of course, the Supreme Court did not think so. The companies reached an agreement in 2019. The deal amounted to billions of dollars and included clauses to allow Apple to continue using Qualcomm chips in iPhones.
After the deal, thousands of Qualcomm patents were licensed to Apple, and patent board allowed the lawsuits to continue. The board approved the patents in 2020, and Apple deems it has the right to appeal, as it can sue again even in 2025, even if the license expires. Federal Circuit CourtWhat he ran. The Federal Circuit Court dismissed the appeal due to insufficient legal rights.
He even went to court with the 14-employee VirnetX company.
iMessage, FaceTime And if you think that other known software belongs to Apple, you are quite wrong. The company that owns the patents was not known at the time, and in the office it rented for $5,000, it was making money by licensing its patents to other companies and suing those who violated this license, together with its 14 employees. Well, he got some inspiration from Apple.
In 2012, the court VirnetXIt ruled that 4 of 80 patents owned by Apple were infringed by Apple and ordered compensation of 368 million dollars. However, Apple played its last card and appealed. VirnetX did not receive compensation for failing to provide sufficient evidence. We cannot say that he lost completely, but Apple had to pay more money than was determined according to the decision of the new jury. Although the company did not pay this money, VirnetX’s shares doubled at that time.
He was sentenced to pay 19 million when he thought he was making a profit by selling the phones without a charger.
Court doors to Apple’s face once again in Brazil closed. The São Paulo state court has fined the tech giant 100 million Brazilian reals ($19 million) for its decision to sell iPhones without a charger in Brazil.
The presiding judge, no charger in phone boxes He described the incident as “an abusive practice”. Apple cannot come to an agreement with the Brazilian authorities on this issue. In 2021, the São Paulo consumer protection agency, from the iPhone 12 box fined Apple an additional $2 million for removing the power adapter.
And most crucially… Millions flew in the ‘Batterygate’ scandal.
Occurring on various iPhone models intentional performance slowdownshas been denied by Apple as “a step taken to protect battery health”. Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a statement later on, said that the performance reduction was done in a transparent way. He even had a comment that “some customers don’t even have a soul”.
At the end of the lawsuit in March 2021, Apple offered to pay at least $310 million to settle the matter. Of course, this amount is towards the end. was over $2.2 billion and victimized users have been waiting for payment for more than 2 years.
Big company, huge responsibilities… Sometimes you have to know where to stand… Let’s hope Apple avoids all these lawsuits. Let him learn a lesson for himself.