Looks like that loss to Ericsson pissed them off.
That was not really a loss, Fhios.
Ericsson was trying a "patent hold-up" on Apple on the Fair, Reasonable, And Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) licensing rates for patents Apple had already been licensing for years which were due for renewal. Ericsson wanted more money than the FRAND rates that Apple was paying on the SEPs that Ericsson was licensing to Apple.
When a cellular manufacturer cannot come to a FRAND rate with a Standards Essential Patent (SEP) holder, the manufacturer is entitled under the Standards Essentials Setting Organization (SESO), of which both the manufacturer and patent holder must both be members, and signatories of the agreements, they are allowed to continue manufacturing their products although technically unlicensed and infringing, until a court of proper jurisdiction establishes a FRAND rate. The "infringing" manufacturer is required to place the standard FRAND license fees into an Escrow account until the dispute is settled to show intent to pay. Apple had always been willing to license the patents at standard FRAND rates.
Ericsson was demanding more than the going rates for their patents from Apple. . . and Apple refused to pay more. Ericsson sued Apple for infringement.
The courts told Ericsson they had to comply with the FRAND rates negotiations to which they had agreed by signing the SSO membership agreements and putting their patents in the Standard pool, which was Apple's position all along. Although the case ruled FOR Ericsson (a technical finding that Apple was infringing) and ordered Apple to pay royalties for the patents insuit, the order to pay, was exactly the FRAND RATE Apple had intended to pay in the first place.
Ericsson wanted MORE from Apple than they were charging other cellular phone manufacturers. That is in violation of the SESO in charge of deciding what patents are included in the Cellular phone standards and which should be offered at FRAND rates.
In some jurisdictions, attempting to use standards encumbered patents in a stock hold up such as Ericsson attempted is illegal and will result in the patents being declared public property, free for all to use. Europe has recently passed such legislation to prevent exactly this situation. Once a company agrees to put one of their patents into a standard, they are guaranteed licensing. . . but if they attempt to use it as a weapon against a competitor, they risk losing all rights to the patent. Note, this applies ONLY to SEPs the owner has agreed to license under FRAND rules. They cannot pull them out, once they've signed such an agreement. Regular patents are not at such risk.