A federal court in Texas ordered Apple to pay $23 million on Monday for using the patents of a decades-old pager technology on its iPhone.
Mobile Telecommunications Technologies (MTel) claimed that Apple used six of its patents filed between 1992 and 1997 on its products including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and Airport Wi-Fi routers. The patents were originally used by MTel on ints SkyTel two-way pager network, a communication system used by firefighters and paramedics, according to The Guardian.
Apple denied using the patents on its iMessage and email apps. MTel initially expected $237 million or $1 per device sold as compensation, which Apple rejected saying, MTel should be entitled to $1 million total, according to Bloomberg.
"A damage award of $237 million is not common sense. It's not logical," Apple's lawyer Brian Ferguson said in court.
MTel lawyer Deron Dacus countered Ferguson's statement during his closing argument.
"Apple is refusing to acknowledge the contributions of others," he said. "This case is about fairness."
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas spent six hours deliberating whether Apple did infringe the patents. The jurors found that the company violated five out of the six patents. Some of the patents are already expired, but the court allowed MTel to claim up to six years before the patents were valid.
MTel is satisfied with the court's decision.
"Apple makes a great product and they deserve a lot of the credit they get," MTel lawyer Daniel Scardino told re/code. "But they should also give credit to those who are due credit for advancing the state of technology that came before them. That's what this trial is all about."
An Apple spokesperson refused to comment about the news.
Apple's arch-rival Samsung is scheduled to attend a hearing on Dec. 15 in the same patent- infringement case.
