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 ina 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 theWisconsin 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."
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