Apple reaches settlement to end copyright suit against Florida startup News
matcuz / Pixabay
Apple reaches settlement to end copyright suit against Florida startup

Apple reached a settlement Tuesday to end a copyright lawsuit it initiated against Florida startup Corellium LLC for Corellium’s “virtual” version of the iPhone used for research to detect potential bugs.

Corellium allows users to run software-only virtualizations of iOS, which means that researchers can test iPhone software on computers instead of iPhone devices. This provides security researchers with new capabilities, such as pausing operating systems completely.

In August 2019, Apple filed suit against Corellium in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Apple claimed that Corellium blatantly infringed upon Apple’s copyrighted work with the sole purpose of profit. However, in December 2020, a federal judge ruled that Corellium had established fair use and denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction.

The trial for the case was to begin on August 16. However, Apple and Corellium settled the lawsuit on Tuesday. The settlement terms are confidential, but Corellium will reportedly still be selling its virtual iOS devices.

Apple has also been sued recently for patent infringement. In March, a jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas decided that Apple had to pay $308.5 million to Personalized Media Communications (PMC) for infringing upon a digital rights management patent.