Caltech and Samsung settle Wifi patent dispute
The clash concerned products such as smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions, and appliances | University has also waged litigation against Apple and Broadcom.
Samsung has ended its dispute over Wifi patents with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as the two confirm that they are negotiating a settlement.
Before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Caltech and Samsung jointly provided notice of their settlement, on August 8.
The motion outlines that the parties are finalising the documentation related to their settlement.
In line with their intention to finalise the settlement, Caltech and Samsung have petitioned the court for a temporary stay of all proceedings, including the suspension of all pending deadlines, until September 7, 2023.
The two anticipate that by this date, they will be in a position to submit the required dismissal papers, concluding the case and bringing an end to their legal dispute.
Case background
Caltech initiated the legal battle against technology giant, Samsung, in 2021.
The research university asserted that Samsung's Wifi products violated its IP rights and demanded compensation.
Caltech accused Samsung of infringing upon multiple patents—US numbers: 7,116,710; 7,421,032; 7,716,552; 7,916,781, and 8,284,833.
These patents concern advancements in coding systems and techniques for wireless communications, particularly focusing on error correction methodologies crucial to Wifi technologies.
Samsung was allegedly producing, importing, and selling various Wifi-enabled products that incorporated the patented technologies.
These products, including smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions, and appliances, used the coding systems developed by Caltech, according to its complaint.
Caltech listed the specific Samsung products that it claimed infringed its patents, which included the Galaxy Note, A Series, and B Series mobiles, as well as the Samsung laptops, watches, TVs.
The ‘LDPC encoders’ found in the product chips satisfy the specifications mentioned in Caltech’s patents as they incorporate tech from the 802.11n, 202.11ac, and the 802.11ax Wifi standards, according to the university.
Caltech secured a victory in 2020, when a jury ruled in its favour in a similar case against Apple and Broadcom.
In 2016, Caltech initiated the patent infringement suit against Apple and Broadcom at the US District Court for the Central District of California. The suit claimed both companies infringed the patents— US numbers 7,116,710, no. 7,421,032, no. 7916,781 and no. 8,284,833.
The jury found that Wifi products developed by Apple and Broadcom infringed patents held by Caltech, resulting in an award of more than $1.1 billion in damages. This precedent-setting win encouraged Caltech's to file its suit against Samsung.
However, in 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit threw out the jury verdict against Apple and Broadcom, and ordered a new trial as the $1.1 billion award was “legally unsupportable”.
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