Apple, Intel file antitrust case against SoftBank-owned firm over patent practices

Apple Inc and Intel Corp filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fortress Investment Group, alleging the SoftBank Group Corp unit stockpiled patents to hold up tech firms with lawsuits demanding as much as $5.1 billion.
The suit follows an earlier case that Intel filed against Fortress in October. Intel withdrew that suit and on Wednesday filed a new version in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California with Apple joining as a plaintiff.
Intel and Apple allege that Fortress and firms it either owned or whose patent portfolios it effectively controlled – and which do no make any technology products – stockpiled patents for the primary purpose of suing technology companies and did so in a manner that violated U.S. antitrust laws.