Apple sued Corellium after failing to agree an acquisition purchase price

Apple has accused Corellium of infringing its copyright by creating digital replicas of Apple's iOS and other software

Apple sued virtualisation software company Corellium after failing to acquire the company for a price it was willing to pay.

That claim was made by Corellium in its response to Apple's intellectual property lawsuit filed in the court last month, whose unredacted copy has now been shared on the internet by an Australian hacker called 'mdowd'.

Earlier, only a redacted version of Corellium's response was available on internet.

"Long before Apple accused Corellium of copyright infringement, Apple not only encouraged Corellium to continue developing its technology, but went to great lengths to acquire Corellium and its technology," mobile device virtualisation firm Corellium stated in the document filed in the court.

"During this time, Apple approved of Corellium participating in its invitation-only Security Bounty Programme ("bug bounty programme") with a promise to pay for software bugs identified by Corellium."

Before Apple accused Corellium of copyright infringement, Apple not only encouraged Corellium to continue developing its technology, but went to great lengths to acquire Corellium

"While Apple gladly accepted and utilised bugs submitted by Corellium as part of this programme, it broke its promise to pay for them. Finally, only after the parties could not agree on an acquisition purchase price, Apple announced its own competing product and soon after sued Corellium," it added.

Earlier in August, Apple filed a lawsuit against Corellium, accusing the firm of infringing its copyright by creating digital replicas of Apple's iOS operating system, iTunes and other software. Apple stated that Corellium had copied all the code, the GUI, the icons and other features of its iOS in exact detail.

Apple, however, is seeking a permanent injunction from the court to prevent Corellium from offering software that copies iOS. The company also wants Corellium to destroy all copied material and to pay Apple lost profits, damages, and attorney fees.

According to Corellium, its software can create virtual iOS devices that can be used by researchers to discover and test bugs in iOS. The firm argues that Apple's code in its product is "fair use" and that its technology helps researchers discover security flaws in iOS, enabling researchers to disclose them to Apple.

The company says its technology provides advanced functionality that is more effective than a physical device, for example, allowing researchers to have a detailed look at the state of a virtual device by pausing it during testing.

Corellium's claims that it does not offer its platform to everyone, and that its end-users include renowned government agencies, financial institutions, and security researchers.

The company believes Apple's behaviour with respect to security research is damaging, and that its behaviour toward Corellium shows Apple's desire to exclusively control the manner in which researchers discover security bugs in a mobile device's operating system.