After Six Years of Courtroom Brawling, Apple vs. MultiMedia Ideas’ Lawsuit Draws to a Surprising Close

In a little known court case that’s been unfolding for the last six years behind courtroom doors, another patent-only firm by the name of MultiMedia Ideas — a vested interest in which is partially held by Sony and Nokia — was ultimately awarded a very small, relatively insignificant amount of money to be paid by Apple, primarily due to Cupertino’s “willful infringement” of the firm’s exclusive ringtone patents.

Apple late last week was ordered by a Delaware judge to pay MultiMedia Ideas a paltry $3 million — just a little less than 17% of the original $18 million that was sought — in light of the Cupertino-company’s infringement of one, single patent, which was whittled down over the last six years or so from MultiMedia’s original claim that Apple violated a whopping 16 different patents.

The most ironic aspect about this whole ordeal, I think, is that MultiMedia Ideas — much akin to other patent trolls like VoIP Pal and VirnetX, for example — is merely another serial patent troll firm with absolutely no products or services to its name.

The patent in question, which has to do with the iPhone’s ability to silence an incoming call, while it’s incoming, without the caller’s knowledge, is merely one — and perhaps the least significant — among the breadth of patents that MultiMedia Ideas originally alleged Apple had infringed on.

Interestingly enough, this case appears to be much like the others that have been waged against Apple in recent years — obfuscated by a firm with absolutely nothing but “intellectual property” to its name, dragged on for so long that any monetary damages awarded might be considered a complete waste of time at the end of the day.

Even still, MultiMedia Ideas has gone after a slew of other tech companies in recent years, including HTC, BlackBerry, and others, in a clear attempt to do what it does best — be an epic troll for the sake of monetary gain.

Speaking of monetary gain, by the way: Apple was only ordered to pay up a paltry $3 million to MultiMedia Ideas in this case — nowhere near the original $18 million that was sought. And I mean, come on, right? It’s only reasonable to assume that over 6 years of duking it out in court isn’t the most cost conscious of endeavors.. So while the idea that “patent trolls always win” might not hold much precedent in this case, at least MultiMedia Ideas walked away with something in the end, right? A booby prize, at best, which I seriously doubt is bound to negatively affect Apple’s bottom line in any way.

Do you agree with this suit’s outcome? Let us know in the comments!