Apple Sued Again by Same Texas Company that Won $533 Million Patent Suit

Following its success in court against Apple, patent troll — err — Texas-based Smartflash LLC is once again suing the iPhone maker over the same patents, reports Reuters. What makes the two cases different is the new devices included, such as the iPhone 6 , the iPhone 6 Plus, and the iPad Air 2. (The first trial included older devices.)

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As we previously reported, Apple was ordered to pay $533 million to Smartflash by a Tyler court — where the patent troll is based — earlier this week. The next day, Apple woke up with another lawsuit on its hands. This one was filed with the same court and involved the same patents owned by the same company, but it addressed products that weren’t included in the first suit.

Meanwhile, Apple is preparing to appeal the first ruling and said that its case is another reason why the patent system needs reform: to prohibit companies that live only to make money on patent royalties instead of making products.

As Reuters points out, both Smartflash lawsuits say that about 15 years ago the co-inventor of U.S. Patent No. 7,334,720, Patrick Sandor Racz, met with Apple executive Augustin Farrugia, who was an employee at Gemalto at the time.

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