Apple must pay $3.3m to Japanese inventor Norihiko Saito for infringing his patent with its own iPod click wheel.
Saito patented his technology in 1998, six years before the launch of Apple’s iPod product line in 2004.
The ruling from the Tokyo District Court is the result of multiple court actions following Saito’s request to Tokyo Customs to bar the import of iPods featuring click wheel technology in 2007.
Apple initially launched a click wheel with the fourth generation of the device, and the element became a feature of future products, including the iPod Photo and Color, mini and all Nano devices up to the sixth generation.
However, upon the launch of iPod Touch in 2007, Apple slowly started to phase out the click wheel in favour of touch screens.
