Recent public comments by Apple show that the Cupertino gadget company has reason to believe it’s the most popular target of so-called “patent trolls,” companies whose only business is suing over patents.
“No firm has been targeted by PAEs more than Apple,” wrote Apple in public comments filed with the Federal Trade Commission. “Apple has litigated against PAEs 92 times in the past three years alone and has received many more demands.”
Apple’s most recent filings, at the FTC and in Supreme Court amicus briefs, are unusual in the amount of detail they offer about the particulars of its patent battles. The statistical information it revealed comes from internal Apple legal information as well as a study that Apple commissioned conducted by PatentFreedom, a defense-oriented patent consultancy.
In its amicus brief for Highmark v. Allcare Management Systems, an upcoming Supreme Court case over when fees should be awarded in patent cases, Apple shared a statistic that companies usually keep to themselves: how many cases it settled. Of the 92 cases filed recently, 57 are closed cases; in 51 of those cases, Apple paid the troll. Apple’s lawyers explain:
Apple has rarely lost on the merits. But victory figures as small consolation, because in every one of these cases, Apple has been forced to bear its legal fees. This reality is the lifeblood of the patent assertion industry… Indeed, the opening line of many negotiations is some form of, “What we’re asking for is less than it will cost you to litigate this case to judgment.” It should come as no surprise, then, that despite its success in litigating the merits, for business purposes Apple has agreed to a settlement in 51 of the 57 closed cases.
In the same amicus brief, Apple also takes a shot at its least favorite troll, Lodsys. Apple’s legal team clearly isn’t happy about how Lodsys was able to get off the hook last year after Apple intervened on its developers’ behalf. They write: