Apple Ordered To Pay $234 Mn to University Of Wisconsin in Patent Suit
BANGALORE: A U.S. jury ordered Apple Inc to pay the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s patent licensing arm more than $234 million in damages for incorporating its microchip technology into some of the company’s iPhones and iPads without permission.
The amount was less than the $400 million the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) was claiming in damages after the jury on Tuesday said Apple infringed its patent for improving the performance of computer processors.
Apple said it would appeal the verdict, but declined to comment further.
WARF praised the verdict and said it was important to protect the university’s inventions from unauthorized use. “This decision is great news,” said WARF Managing Director Carl Gulbrandsen in a statement.
Jurors deliberated for about 3-1/2 hours before returning the verdict in the closely watched case in federal court in Madison, Wisconsin. It was the second phase of a trial that began on Oct. 5.
The jury was considering whether Apple’s A7, A8 and A8X processors, found in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus, as well as several versions of the iPad, violated the patent.
WARF sued Apple in January 2014 alleging infringement of its 1998 patent on a “predictor circuit,” developed by computer science professor Gurindar Sohi and three of his students.
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