A patent trial in the District of Delaware between MobileMedia Ideas (MMI) and Apple ended with a jury finding of infringement by Apple and an award of $3 million to MMI. The patent at issue, U.S. Patent No. RE 39,231, described the invention of the “polite ignore” feature on cell phones for silencing an incoming call in a way that prevents the caller from knowing that the call was ignored.
During the trial, which lasted a week, the jury heard expert testimony from Dr. Sigurd Meldal, a Professor of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering at San Jose State University and an expert with Quandary Peak Research. Dr. Meldal’s testimony related to technical aspects of the Apple devices at issue, the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. Dr. Meldal, who was the sole technical expert called by MMI, had previously testified as a smartphone expert in other patent cases, including another trial between MMI and Apple that concluded with a favorable verdict for MMI in 2012.
After deliberating for less than two days, the jury found the patent valid and returned an infringement verdict with a damages award to MMI. Additional details about the case are available at Law360 and Delaware Law Weekly.