In an ironic twist, Apple has been found guilty of infringing three patents held by MobileMedia, formed by Nokia, and Sony.
The tech-giant was notorious for kicking up a dust earlier this year over patent infringements by Samsung, but now it appears the tables have turned, and the finger is pointing firmly at Apple.
The verdict was announced by the Delaware judge in charge of the case, on Thursday, after a seven-day trial, where Apple was found to have misappropriated protected technology held by Sony and Nokia.
The judge and jury held that the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4 directly infringed upon claims in a patent issued to Sony, which covered a method for controlling the connecting state of a call. The second patent Apple misappropriated was issued to Nokia, and covered call rejection. The final patent Apple was guilty of contravening covered the camera phone.
Apple had argued that all three patents were invalid, but the jury disagreed.
The dispute dates back to March 2010, when MobileMedia filed its lawsuit against Apple.
Apple has issued no comment on the case, but MobileMedia is justifiably satisfied with the outcome. There has been no date set for the trial on damages, which have the potential to be substantial, if the money Samsung had to shell out ($1 billion) is any indicator.