The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered Apple to pay 330 million yen ($3.35 million) in damages to Japanese inventor Norihiko Saito for a patent infringement involving the U.S. firm's iPod music player. The patent that Saito's company applied for in 1998 covers a technology for the Click Wheel controller that Apple has adopted for the music player in Japan since 2004, Presiding Judge Teruhisa Takano said in a ruling.

The judge declared the provisional execution of the order even before the ruling is finalized.

The patent dispute began when Mr. Saito filed an application with the Tokyo Customs for an injunction against iPod imports over the alleged patent infringement in 2007.

Apple then filed a suit seeking to confirm the absence of a patent infringement. Mr. Saito launched a countersuit demanding Y100 million in damages.