The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) has been awarded $1.1 billion after a federal court in the US found Broadcom and Apple had infringed the academic institution’s intellectual property.
The organisation had alleged that Broadcom’s Wi-Fi chips used in Apple’s iPhone used innovations described in patents related to data transmission technology.
Broadcom specialises in wireless communication chips for smartphones and other devices.
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The court agreed with CalTech and ordered Apple to pay $837.8 million in damages, while Broadcom must stump up $270.2 million.
According to Reuters, both companies plan to appeal the ruling. Apple had argued that the infringements described by CalTech related to Broadcom’s technology and that it was only a customer of the chipmaker. This, it said, meant that the university’s grievance was with Broadcom.
CalTech welcomed the verdict, having first filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles back in 2016.
“We are pleased the jury found that Apple and Broadcom infringed Caltech patents,” it said. “As a non-profit institution of higher education, Caltech is committed to protecting its intellectual property in furtherance of its mission to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education.”
Apple is one of Broadcom’s biggest customers. Although owned by Singapore’s Avago since 2016, Broadcom repatriated its headquarters back to the US in 2018.
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Via Reuters