Apple ordered to pay over $500m in patent dispute with University of Wisconsin
A US judge has ordered Apple to pay an additional $272 million in damages to the University of Wisconsin over its use of “predictor circuit” patents, bringing the total amount owed by Apple to more than $500 million.
The technology company was sued in January 2014 over US patent number 5,781,752, which covers “predictor circuit” technology. This enables a processor to predict what instructions a user will put into the system based on previous choices.
According to the claim, the technology was created by a professor and three students at the university who were granted a patent in 1998 and is enforceable through the university’s patent licensing arm, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).
The case was filed at the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
In October 2015, WARF was awarded a judgment in its favour and damages, with Judge William Conley ordering Apple to pay nearly $235 million for infringing the patent.
This was despite Apple’s request for a finding that the patent was invalid.
The infringing products were Apple’s A7, A8 and A8X chip processors used in its iPhone 5 and 6 models as well as some iPad devices.
Apple was originally ordered to pay $1.61 “per infringing unit for accused processors sold through the initial entry of judgment on October 26, 2015”, Conley said.
On Monday, July 24, Conley added a further $272 million to the overall award.
This was to account for ongoing royalties that Apple owed at the rate of $2.74 per infringing unit from the date of the judgment to December 2016, when the patent expired, plus interest.
However, Conley ruled that the patent infringement was not wilful.
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