Apple and Corellium settle legal dispute over virtualized iOS

An Apple-led lawsuit against Corellium for replicating iOS has been settled after years of back-and-forth battles.

Corellium replicated iOS so security research could be performed outside of Apple's usual restrictions in the operating system. Apple filed a lawsuit suggesting the company had violated copyrights in 2019, which has gone through many stages since, and finally comes to an end on Thursday.

The case had returned to a Florida district court to decide whether Corellium had infringed on copyrights of Apple's branding or wallpapers. According to a report from Forbes, Apple and Corellium reached a settlement with unknown terms.

Apple claimed that Corellium's software completely replicates iOS and was used as an alternative to its security research products. Corellium, on the other hand, argued that its duplication of Apple's computer code and app icons was solely for security research and was significantly "transformative" according to the fair use standard.

The lawsuit appeared to have ended originally in 2021 when Apple agreed to drop its claims. Apple then filed an appeal against a ruling made in 2020 where a judge said Corellium's replication was fair use.

The long and winding road of litigation ended with an unknown settlement. But Apple has already proven it is willing to reopen a lawsuit if it feels it has a chance to change the outcome.