A group of firms are suing Apple, alleging it infringed more than 7 of their patents. The patents involved related to LTE cellular standards and potentially affect the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch an other devices (via Cult of Mac).
Looking for Royalties
The companies are operating under the umbrella of Optis Wireless Technology. Their lawsuit said that they are seeking “recovery of damages at least in the form of reasonable royalties”.
The lawsuit also said that Apple needs a license to use LTE technology that Optis Wirless Technology said it had patented. It said that in fact that in January 2017 there were negotiations with this and the Optis representatives had met with people from Apple and made “multiple license offers”. However, Optis said that Apple “Apple has not reciprocated the Plaintiffs’ good faith efforts”.
Back in The Eastern District of Texas
The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a regular venue for such action. Apple announced last week that it was closing its two retail stores in the district, in a move seen as trying to protect itself from patent trolls.