(Reuters) – A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday dismissed Apple Inc’s copyright infringement claims against a Florida startup whose software is helping security researchers find vulnerabilities in Apple products, including the iPhone.
US District Judge Rodney Smith ruled in favor of Corellium LLC, saying that the software emulating the iOS operating system running on the iPhone and iPad amounted to “fair use” because it was “transformative” and helped developers find security flaws.
Apple accused Corellium of essentially replicating iOS to create “virtual” iOS devices, whose “only function” was to run unauthorized copies of the system on non-Apple hardware.
But the Fort Lauderdale judge said Corellium is “adding something new to iOS” by showing users and stopping running processes, taking live snapshots, and performing other operations.
“Corellium’s profit motivation does not undermine the fair use defense, especially given the general benefit of the product,” Smith wrote.
The judge also rejected Apple’s argument that the Delray Beach startup was acting in bad faith by selling its product indiscriminately, possibly including to hackers, and by not requiring users to report bugs to Apple.
He said that argument seemed “puzzling if not insincere,” said Cupertino, that California-based Apple did not impose a reporting requirement under its own Bug Bounty program.
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Corellium has denied wrongdoing. Justin Levine, one of his attorneys, said in an email that the decision had made “correct findings regarding fair use.”
Smith said Apple may still claim a separate federal law that Corellium circumvented its security measures when creating its software.
Corellium was founded in August 2017. According to court records, Apple tried to buy Corellium from January 2018, but talks had ended by the summer. Apple sued Corellium in August 2019.
The case is Apple Inc. v. Corellium LLC, US District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 19-81160.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio