Apple’s copyright protection technology is about to cost the company dearly. Bloomberg says a court in Marshall, Texas, ordered Apple to pay Personalized Media Communications $ 308.5 million for allegedly violating a digital rights management (DRM) patent. PMC claimed in 2015 that the FairPlay technology used on the App Store, Apple Music and iTunes infringed seven patents. Apple initially had invalid claims at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but PMC was able to overturn some of those decisions in an appeal.
Google thwarted a similar case of PMC, although Netflix faces an imminent battle over an open lawsuit in 2019. PMC is a non-practicing entity that relies primarily on lawsuits for its business – commonly known as a patent troll. Companies like this “stifle innovation” and hurt ordinary customers, Apple said in a statement.
The tech giant said it was dissatisfied with the result and plans to appeal the decision.
The decision is unlikely to affect Apple’s use of DRM. PMC can use this case to justify targeting other copy protection systems, however. While this may represent the end of a battle, you may see numerous lawsuits in the years to come.