A California federal judge has entered final judgment against Apple and Broadcom after the California Institute of Technology’s US$1.1 billion patent jury trial win, but held off on deciding Caltech’s bid to double the damages until after the inevitable appeal in the case is concluded, reports Law360 (a subscription is required to read the entire article).
In April, the Federal Circuit rejected Apple‘s bid to overturn a patent board decision upholding Caltech’s patent for wireless data transmissions. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled in favor of Caltech in 2018 after reviewing U.S. Patent No. 7,116,710 while Caltech’s parallel infringement case proceeded in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
In 2016 Caltech accused Apple of selling various iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models, along with other Wi-Fi products, that incorporate IRA/LDPC encoders and/or decoders and allegedly infringe on its patents. The university sought monetary damages.
In January, a California federal jury ruled that Apple and Broadcom infringed three Caltech data transmission patents with Wi-Fi chips used in hundreds of millions of iPhones and other devices, awarding the university over $1.1 billion in damages. Apple was ordered to pay $837.8 million, and Broadcom was hit with a $270.2 million verdict, according to lawyers for Caltech.
