Apple loses cover flow patent case
Apple could be facing one of the largest patent awards on record if a judge upholds a ruling issued on Friday that the company infringed on three patents.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that a federal jury in the Eastern District of Texas recommended that Apple pay damages totalling $625.5m (£394.3m) for three patents owned by Mirror Worlds LLC, a technology company founded by Yale University professor David Gelernter.
On Sunday, Apple filed an emergency motion with the court seeking a stay in the verdict. The company reportedly argued that there were 'oustanding issues' with two of the three patents that justified the stay.
The suit was filed in 2008 and cites patents "covering how data is organised in streams and displayed". It relates to iPods, iPhones and Macs with the 'cover flow' feature, which allows users to flip through images of files; Spotlight, which allows users to search for files on the computer; and Time Machine, which is a type of file backup software.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Apple facing $625.5 million patent judgement; files emergency motion for stay on ZDNet.com.