Apple loses copyright claims in lawsuit against U.S. security bug startup

A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday dismissed Apple Inc's copyright infringement claims against a Florida startup whose software helps security researchers find vulnerabilities in Apple products including the iPhone.

Apple accused Corellium of essentially replicating iOS to create "Virtual" iOS-operated devices, whose "Sole function" was to run unauthorized copies of the system on non-Apple hardware.

The judge also rejected Apple's argument that the Delray Beach startup acted in bad faith by selling its product indiscriminately, including potentially to hackers, and by not requiring users to report bugs to Apple. Apple may still pursue a separate federal law claim that Corellium circumvented its security measures when creating its software.

According to court records, Apple tried to buy Corellium starting in Jan. 2018, but talks had broken down by summer.