The Cupertino, Calif.-based software maker's claim against Psystar was granted, according to U.S. District Judge William Aslup's decision, and Psystar's anticompetitive claim against Apple was denied.

"I cannot say I'm surprised," said Ilan Barzilay, an associate with Wolf Greenfield, a Boston IP law firm. "Psystar was relying on interpretation of copyright laws that were stretched to begin with. When they were down to their defense, I believed they were close to being cooked."

It is likely Apple will be entitled to attorney fees from Psystar and recover whatever damages Apple can prove, according to Barzilay. "It is likely that they want to just shut Psystar down," he said.

A hearing on what, if anything, Apple will receive in damages will be Dec. 14, according to court filings.

Price Is Right

Apple first sued Psystar last year after the company began selling PCs with Mac OS X installed at a fraction of the cost of Apple computers.

Attorneys for Apple argued that the company's end-user licensing agreement forbids third parties from installing Mac OS X on anything other than Apple computers. Aslup agreed, telling Psystar it could not sell Apple software.

The Miami, Fla.-based Psystar then countersued in August 2008, claiming Apple was monopolizing its Mac OS X and wiping out competition, but that suit was dismissed two months later.

While battling with Apple, Psystar last month added more fuel to the fire by offering Rebel EFI software that allows generic PCs to run Mac OS X.

"There are people clamoring for lower-cost computers that will run Apple's software," Barzilay said. But people cannot do that by buying software from companies offering it illegally.

"Someone can go ahead and buy a low-cost PC and buy Apple's Mac OS X, but there is a lot of work doing that and you need top-level skills to do that," Barzilay said. "You can buy the OS separately and if you want to run Apple software, you have to pay for it and buy it from Apple."

Future of Clones

While there aren't many people lining up to sell a group of cloned computers, Monday's decision will help discourage people from attempting to do what Psystar did.

"Psystar had a tough road and Apple threw dozens of claims against them and there are still pending claims that in my guess will not ultimately reach trial," Barzilay said. "I think this will be the end for the company."