Personalized Media Communications (PMC)

Personalized Media Communications (PMC), founded in 1981, owns a portfolio of patents related to network equipment management, including mobile devices. PMC licensees include Cisco Systems, Zynga, DirecTV, Motorola, Sony. All PMC patents have claimed priority since 1981 or 1987 and are valid until at least 2027, and many of them until the 2030s. PMC's portfolio consists of 85 issued patents and 19 pending applications (by March 2021).

History

2021: Apple to pay $300 million for PMC patent infringement

At the end of March 2021, a federal jury in the US state of Texas ordered Apple to pay more than $300 million in favor of Personalized Media Communications (PMC). Apple is accused of violating a patent related to digital rights management (DRM).

The plaintiff claims that Apple violated the patent by using FairPlay technology to distribute encrypted content in the iTunes, App Store and Apple Music applications. The initial lawsuit was filed in 2015, Personalized Media Communications claimed that Apple violated seven of its patents. Then Apple managed to challenge the court decision, but in 2020 the US Court of Appeals overturned the decision of the board to invalidate some patent claims.

Apple to pay $300 million for violation of Personalized Media Communications patent

In an interview with Bloomberg, Apple said it was "disappointed with the decision and will appeal." PMC is a company that buys and registers intellectual property but does not use it. Personalized Media accounts for dozens of patents, the company generates revenue by filing patent claims to large corporations.

Similar cases brought by companies that do not produce or sell any products deter innovation and ultimately harm consumers, Apple said in a statement.

In 2021, Google and YouTube won the patent process from Personalized Media Communications, and the case against Netflix is pending in New York.^[1]

Notes