Apple and Broadcom win trial
Decision in $1.1 billion Caltech patent case

A US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned a jury ruling ordering Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Inc. to pay the California Institute of Technology $1.1 billion for breaching its Wi-Fi -Technology patents were convicted and a new trial on damages ordered.
The US The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared that the Los Angeles federal jury's January 2020 award, one of the largest ever handed down in patent cases, was "unenforceable in law."
It also upheld the jury's findings that Apple and Broadcom infringed two of Caltech's patents and ordered a retrial as to whether they infringed on a third patent.
Caltech sued Apple and Broadcom in May 2016, alleging that millions of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and other devices using Broadcom chips infringe its data transfer patents.
The jury ordered Apple to pay Caltech $837.8 million and Broadcom to pay an additional $270.2 million.
Caltech, Apple and Broadcom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple is a major buyer of Broadcom chips and in January 2020 secured a $15 billion supply deal that ends in 2023. Broadcom estimates that 20% of its revenue comes from Apple.
Caltech's damages model was based on the argument that the school could have simultaneously negotiated a license with Apple for devices with Broadcom chips and a license with Broadcom for chips used elsewhere.
District Judge Richard Linn, writing for the Court of Appeals, dismissed this theory.
"The mere fact that Broadcom and Apple are separate infringers does not justify treating the same chips differently at different stages of the supply chain," Linn wrote. "Caltech's two-tier theory of damages is not legally tenable in this case."
Caltech, based in Pasadena, Calif., has also sued Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) Co, Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) Inc and HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) for alleged infringement of the same patents . These proceedings are still pending.





