Apple Loses Mirror Worlds Document Display Trial

Apple Inc. was ordered by a jury to pay damages to Mirror Worlds LLC for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed on a computer screen.

The federal jury in Tyler, Texas, awarded $208.5 million in damages for each of the patents infringed. The verdict form was unclear as to whether the amount applies to the three patents collectively or would be charged individually. Lawyers for closely held Mirror Worlds declined to discuss the verdict.

Mirror Worlds, a software business started by a Yale University computer-science professor David Gelernter, claimed Apple’s iPod music device, iPhone and Mac computers infringed its patents. Apple challenged the validity of the patents and whether they were infringed, according to court records.

Gelernter said after the verdict he was “tremendously grateful” to his lawyers for “their overwhelmingly brilliant performance.” He declined to comment further.

Gelernter wrote “Mirror Worlds: or the Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox” and “Drawing Life: Surviving the Unabomber” about his recovery from a bomb sent by Theodore Kaczynski in 1993 that damaged his right hand and eye.

Mirror Worlds LLC, the legal entity that filed the complaint, is incorporated in Tyler, Texas, according to the complaint.

Apple had about $46 billion in cash and securities as of June 26. Officials with the Cupertino, California-based company didn’t return messages seeking additional information.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis began Sept. 27.

The case is Mirror Worlds LLC v. Apple Inc., 08cv88, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler).