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| IMAGE: IMAGINECHINA/ASSOCIATED PRESS |
Apple has been ordered by a
court to pay $234 million to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)
after losing a patent infringement case filed by the group in 2014.
The
patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,781,752) related to an invention that increases the
speed and efficiency of computer processing. Although the damages are
significant, they are much less than the $862 million some reports earlier this week indicated Apple might have to pay in
the event of a legal defeat.
"This is a case where the hard work of our university
researchers and the integrity of patenting and licensing discoveries has
prevailed," Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF, said in a statement on the group's website on
Friday. "
The
jury recognized
the seminal computer processing work that took place on our campus. This
decision is great news for the inventors, the
University of Wisconsin–Madison and for WARF."
A jury in a federal court in the Western
District of Wisconsin found that Apple's system on
chip designs for the A7, A8 and A8X chips infringed on patent claims made by
WARF. According to WARF, the Apple devices affected by the patent issue include
the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and several iterations of the iPad.
"We believed our technology was ahead of
its time," Professor Gurindar Sohi, a University of Wisconsin researcher,
said in a statement on the WARF website. "Almost two decades ago we tried
to anticipate how computers would need to operate today. Our team invested the
equivalent of more than 11 years of work to solve this problem."
However, despite the costly
defeat, Apple plans to appeal the verdict, according to the
Wisconsin State Journal.
"Although patent verdicts like this one are typically appealed," said Gulbrandsen, "we hope to continue to work with Apple to resolve this matter and build a stronger relationship between our two institutions."
"Although patent verdicts like this one are typically appealed," said Gulbrandsen, "we hope to continue to work with Apple to resolve this matter and build a stronger relationship between our two institutions."
http://mashable.com/2015/10/17/apple-234-million-patent-infringement/#O5ZbaRuuIgqT
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