Apple wins a brand new trial in $1.1 billion Caltech patent case

Apple Inc. and Broadcom Inc. will get a brand new trial on damages in an infringement case over California Institute of Technology patents on Wi-Fi expertise, after a US appeals court docket vacated a $1.1 billion verdict the college received in 2020.

A two-tier injury award of damages of $270.2 million towards Broadcom and $837.8 million towards Apple that concerned totally different royalty charges from every firm is “legally unsupportable,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington dominated. The January 2020 verdict was one of many largest jury awards in a patent case in U.S. historical past.

The court docket additionally affirmed the jury discovering that Apple and Broadcom infringed two CalTech patents, however ordered a brand new trial of infringement on a 3rd patent. One of the three judges on the panel stated he would have thrown the entire case out, believing not one of the patents had been infringed.  

The case was remanded to a court docket in Los Angeles for a brand new trial on infringement of 1 patent and to find out how a lot Broadcom and Apple ought to pay. 

CalTech stated it was happy that the validity of the patents and a part of the infringement findings had been upheld.

“This is recognition of Caltech’s innovations within the discipline of knowledge communications, which at the moment are broadly utilized in Wi-Fi merchandise as a result of they considerably enhance the standard, bandwidth, and vary of wi-fi information transmission,” the school said in a statement Friday. “We are confident that the value of the patents will be fully recognized at the damages retrial.”

Officials with Broadcom and Apple didn’t reply to queries looking for remark.

The excessive injury award was primarily based largely on the broad vary of Apple merchandise that had been accused of utilizing the college’s innovations for wi-fi information transmissions. The case focused Broadcom chips and any Apple smartphone, pill or laptop that that has one.

CalTech argued that it might have negotiated two licenses — one with Broadcom for chips that weren’t bought to Apple, after which with Apple for the gadgets that included Broadcom chips “at a vastly totally different royalty price,” in keeping with the opinion.

“The mere indisputable fact that Broadcom and Apple are separate infringers alone doesn’t help treating the identical chips otherwise at totally different phases within the provide chain and doesn’t justify submitting such a two-tier injury idea to the jury,” the Federal Circuit dominated. 

“In the absence of a compelling displaying in any other case, a better royalty is just not obtainable for a similar gadget at a special level within the provide chain,” in keeping with the court docket.

In an unrelated case involving patent claims towards Apple, a special three-judge Federal Circuit panel ordered a brand new trial on damages in a $85.23 million verdict received by Quarterhill Inc.’s Wi-Lan over a method to allocate bandwidth in wi-fi communications. 

The court docket dominated that Wi-Lan’s damages knowledgeable used a “flawed” methodology that was “untethered to the facts of this case,” but in addition that the trial court docket erred in ruling that Apple iPhones with Intel Corp. chips had a perpetual license to the Wi-Lan patent.

The circumstances are California Institute v Broadcom, 20-2222, and Apple Inc. v. Wi-Lan Inc., 20-2011, each U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).

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