Apple has successfully appealed a $300 million patent infringement penalty, previously reduced from a $506 million verdict, due to improper jury instructions in a case against Optis. The original trial failed to separately assess each of the five patents in question, violating the jury unanimity requirement under the seventh amendment. The appeals judges emphasized that combining claims hindered a fair determination of damages according to established fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory guidelines for essential patents.
According to the appeals judges, the court's choice to combine all five infringement claims into a single question meant that the verdict form violated Apple's right to a jury unanimity for each claim.
Apple managed to get the matter retried because the original case failed to take into account fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) requirements for standards-essential patents.
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