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Mark Fowler, Apple’s attorney, said in court that Emblaze is “a company that just sues companies.”
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A Federal Jury in San Jose, California, has dismissed the claims made by Israel’s Emblaze that Apple infringed on its copyrights. The jury did find that Emblaze held a patent on the technology which was at issue in a trial that began on June 30th.
The verdict came on Friday, after a day of deliberations. Emblaze had sought $511 million in damages.
While the company may have lost its case against Apple, the Jury’s finding is significant because Emblaze is also engaged in a similar suit against Microsoft in the same court. That suit was filed in 2012.
Israeli global technology company Emblaze, which operates primarily in the IT, software and mobile sectors, received a patent for its process for delivering live-streaming video over wireless networks without interruption in 2002, US Patent No. 6, 389, 473, titled Network Media Streaming.
The lawsuit revolved around Emblaze’s accusation that Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol used Emblaze’s patented streaming technology. Also, Emblaze argued that Apple had pressured American organizations such as Major League Baseball and its At Bat service to use its technology for the live streaming of their events over the Internet, thereby squeezing Emblaze out of the market.
Emblaze’s attorney told a jury in his opening arguments that, “Apple’s HLS is nothing more than Emblaze’s patented solution under a different name.”
Apple had countered that Emblaze was a failed company with virtually no revenue, resorting to lawsuits in order to stay alive. Mark Fowler, Apple’s attorney, said in court that Emblaze is “a company that just sues companies.”
Emblaze had only $1.9 million in revenue in 2013.
Apple’s attorney also pointed out in court that Emblaze had failed as a business in almost every way. The company, he said, had been rebuffed by both wireless carriers and phone companies whenever Emblaze had attempted to license its technology.
Emblaze’s lead attorney, Martin Pavane, responded that his client was no a “patent troll.”
Emblaze Ltd., maker of the advanced “Else” smartphone, first filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. for patent infringement in 2010.
Founded in 1994, Emblaze is based in Hezlya Pituach, Israel. It describes itself as a global group with core competency and skills in the technology arena with a Group strategy that is two-pronged, addressing both growth and innovation companies, thus combining the stability of “bread and butter” mature technology enterprises with “high-risk / high-reward” innovation companies.
