Well, that depends. If the patent was found to not be valid because of invalid intent by the "inventor" (such as known prior art, knowingly stealing an idea, knowingly patenting something that's unpatentable), it actually is the inventors fault... When submitting a patent, the inventor must sign an oath indicating these (and other) things:
> The inventor must make an oath or declaration that he/she believes himself/herself to be the original and first inventor of the subject matter of the application, and he/she must make various other statements required by law and various statements required by the USPTO rules.
Now, it would be VERY difficult to prove the oath was broken. But if it was, it's completely and 100% valid to hold the inventor (here Apple) responsible.
I'm not saying that's what's going on here (or in most cases of an overturned patent), just that it may be Apple's fault. It's not a black and white situation here...
> The inventor must make an oath or declaration that he/she believes himself/herself to be the original and first inventor of the subject matter of the application, and he/she must make various other statements required by law and various statements required by the USPTO rules.
Now, it would be VERY difficult to prove the oath was broken. But if it was, it's completely and 100% valid to hold the inventor (here Apple) responsible.
I'm not saying that's what's going on here (or in most cases of an overturned patent), just that it may be Apple's fault. It's not a black and white situation here...