Smartflash goes double-dipping for more damages
Apparently unsatisfied with its Tuesday victory against Apple in court, Smartflash LLC is once again suing the maker of all things Mac, according to Reuters. This time, they’re still citing the same patents, but for devices introduced after the original case was filed. The new case addresses the patents’ use in devices like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as the iPad Air 2.
Smartflash filed the new complaint on Wednesday night in the same court in Tyler, Texas. Smartflash is also based in Tyler, and the Texas city has become a hotbed of patent litigation over the past decade. Smartflash has also filed patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung Electronics, Google Inc, and Amazon over the same patents, which relate to accessing and storing downloaded songs, videos, and games.
According to both Smartflash lawsuits, the co-inventor of the patents, Patrick Racz, met with executives of what is now Gemalto SA, a European SIM card maker. One of those executives included Augustin Farrugia, now a senior director at Apple. Smartflash’s attorney, Brad Caldwell, told Reuters on Thursday that “Apple cannot claim they don’t know about these patents or understand that they are infringing. A diligent jury has already rejected those arguments.”
So the question is, will the $532.9 million that a jury has already awarded Smartflash be considered enough, or will a jury for the new case award even more in damages?
The new lawsuit is Smartflash LLC et al v. Apple Inc, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No. 15-cv–145.
