Apple is sued again for patent infringement

In a case that might have some legs, Intertrust Technologies Corp., owned jointly by Sony Corp. and Royal Philips Electronics, has sued Apple for infringing on Marlin, the digital content protection software already licensed to Samsung, Nokia Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and HTC Corp. In 2004 Microsoft agreed to pay Intertrust over $400M to settle a similar suit.

The Wall Street Journal reports Intertrust has been in less-than-fruitful negotiations with Apple since 2005 and that Intertrust considers litigation a last recourse. This history may be important if a court finds for Intertrust, as a finding of willful infringement can treble damages.