Apple won a defense verdict on Thursday in a lawsuit by intellectual-property management company Optis Wireless, which had accused the tech giant of violating its patent rights in 4G wireless technology.
Optis had won verdicts of $506 million and $300 million against Apple in earlier trials in the long-running case in Marshall, Texas. Both verdicts were later overturned on appeal.
“We thank the jury for their time, and we’re pleased they rejected Optis’ false claims,” an Apple spokesperson said. “Optis makes no products, and its sole business is to sue companies, which it has done repeatedly to Apple in an attempt to obtain an excessive payout.”
An Optis spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
Plano, Texas-based Optis and its affiliates sued Apple in 2019, arguing that the tech giant’s iPhones and other products violated their patent rights in technology related to the 4G LTE wireless standard. Apple has denied the allegations and argued the patents are invalid…
A U.K. court separately ruled last year that Apple owes Optis $502 million for infringing Optis’ UK wireless patents. The U.K. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal from Apple in June.
Update, February 20, 2026, 11:08am ET: An Optis spokesperson provided a statement to MacDailyNews: “Optis was founded to protect innovation contributed by some of the pioneers of cellular technology and ensure fair compensation is paid by those that benefit from it. Apple’s stated strategy is to devalue and delay paying for the underlying patented technology of the innovation it relies on to offer high speed LTE communications. While we respect the jury’s decision, we are incredibly disappointed by this outcome. We believe the verdict does not recognize the essential nature of Optis patents which are used in Apple devices to achieve high-speed cellular connectivity. In our UK litigation against Apple, all of the asserted Optis LTE patents were the subject of a full review by specialist judges and were all found to be valid, essential and infringed by Apple. We look forward to a further review of the jury’s verdict by the U.S. District Court and Federal Circuit, and we remain fully committed to securing fair and reasonable compensation consistent with FRAND principles.”
MacDailyNews Take: Victory!
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