Apple faces $8m payout over playlist patent

A federal jury in Eastern Texas has ruled against Apple in a case accusing the Mac maker of infringing on patents for downloadable playlists.

Bloomberg first reported on Friday the verdict requiring Apple to award $8m (£5m) in damages to the patent holder, Personal Audio, a non-practising entity — meaning it licenses patents but does not actually have any other business. The jury found Apple liable for infringing on the patents and upheld their validity, Bloomberg reported, citing Personal Audio's lawyer, Ron Schutz.

Personal Audio filed the case in 2009 seeking $84m in damages. The US patents in question are No. 6,199,076, "Audio program player including a dynamic program selection controller" and No. 7,509,178, "Audio program distribution and playback system", according to intellectual-property tracking blog FOSS Patents. Other defendants initially included in the case were Sirius XM Radio, Coby Electronics and Archos, but they all settled in May and July of 2010.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Apple loses playlist patent suit, must pay $8M on CNET News.