Apple Inc. has lost a lawsuit against a company called Corellium LLC, which has built a virtualized version of the iOS operating system for security testing purposes

Corellium was co-founded in 2017 by husband and wife Chris Wade and Amanda Gorton. Its software quickly became popular because it enables security researchers to run a virtual iPhone environment on a desktop computer. That made it possible for people to test iOS security and find flaws and bugs without buying an iPhone or iPad.

But Apple wasn’t impressed. It sued Corellium last year alleging that the company had infringed on its copyright by replicating iOS.

A Florida judge threw out that claim today, saying Corellium had demonstrated that it operates under fair-use terms, The Washington Post reported.

“Weighing all the necessary factors, the Court finds that Corellium has met its burden of establishing fair use,” Judge Rodney Smith said in his decision Tuesday. “Thus, its use of iOS in connection with the Corellium Product is permissible.”

Apple’s lawsuit had alleged that Corellium illegally replicated the iOS operating system and its applications. “Corellium has simply copied everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the icons — all of it, in exacting detail,” Apple said in its complaint.

Corellium countered that its software, which creates replicas of the iOS, iTunes and other user interface elements of Apple’s software, is simply designed to make it easier for security researchers to find flaws. The company added that Apple was also using the lawsuit to try to crack down on “jailbreaking,” which refers to the removal of software restrictions on iOS. By jailbreaking an iPhone, users can install applications and extensions that are not authorized in the Apple App Store.

Judge Smith retorted that Apple’s claims that Corellium’s software could enable jailbreaking were “puzzling, if not disingenuous,” before throwing them out.

Analyst Rob Enderle told SiliconANGLE that Apple had been guilty of thinking that it couldn’t be beaten in a case like this. Now that it has been beaten, it has created a legal precedent that could lead to other companies creating similar products that help users migrate to competitive offerings, he said.

“Given that what Corellium was doing was potentially beneficial to Apple, it should have found a way to bless the effort which would have allowed the perception that it couldn’t be beaten to remain,” Enderle said. “As a result of Apple’s action, it has turned a non-problem into what could become a catastrophe. Using litigation as a weapon comes with risks that Apple is suddenly forced to remember. You’d think they would have learned this lesson after the Qualcomm loss, but apparently not.”

Apple has also alleged that Corellium had violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s ban on circumventing copy protection measures. Further, Apple claimed that Corellium circumvented its authentication server and secure boot chain to create its software.

Corellium has claimed fair use as a defense against those charges too, but the judge said he did not find it compelling enough to dismiss them before a full trial.

Apple has not commented on the case.

Apple announced a major revamp of its bug bounty program last year with bigger payouts to researchers that find flaws. It has also created a program for vetted researchers that gives them access to iPhones that are essentially jailbroken.

Photo: JESHOOTS-com/Pixabay