A federal judge in Texas threw out an earlier verdict against Apple in a patent-infringement case with Mirror Worlds, overturning one of the largest settlements ever awarded in a patent case and fueling debate on software copyright in general.
Last October, a jury determined that Apple infringed on three Mirror World patents and awarded $208 million per violation. Mirror Worlds filed the case against Apple in 2008, alleging it infringed the patents with three Apple features: Coverflow, a visual interface used to flip through images in iTunes; Spotlight, which searches and locates files; and Time Machine, an automatic way to back up computer files.
The case illustrates the difficulties around so-called "software patents," which apply to particulars of computer programs. Opponents argue that software patents stifle innovation -- some companies exist solely to collect such patents and extract licensing fees from companies that might infringe on them.
Such patents also surface in litigation that seems as much about attacking competitors as about defending legitimate intellectual property, such as recent suits by Microsoft against Barnes & Noble and Motorola, which smack of veiled attacks on Google's Android operating system used by both companies in allegedly infringing devices.
This ruling marks the second legal victory in a row for the Apple. Earlier this month, a U.S. trade panel also decided in favor of Apple in its ongoing patent dispute with handset maker Nokia, ruling that Apple didn't infringe on the Finnish phone maker's patents.
New Haven, Conn.-based Mirror Worlds was founded by Yale University computer science professor David Gelernter, who was the target of a mail bomb by Theodore Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, in 1993.
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