The US University That Won a 1 Trillion Won Patent Lawsuit Against the World-Renowned 'Apple'

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Wins Lawsuit Against Apple and Broadcom
Regarding Caltech Wireless Data Transmission Patent Infringement

Apple has effectively lost a patent infringement lawsuit against the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The damages to be paid could approach the scale of 1 trillion won.

On the 26th (local time), according to IT specialized media 'Apple Insider' and others, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeals filed by Apple and Broadcom regarding the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Caltech.

The lawsuit dates back to 2016. Caltech sued, claiming that Broadcom products used in Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch infringed on multiple university patents related to wireless data transmission (Wi-Fi).

Apple's iPhone series.

In January 2020, a jury in the Los Angeles (LA) court ruled in favor of Caltech. The jury ordered Apple and Broadcom to pay damages of $837.8 million (approximately 1.0945 trillion won) and $270.2 million (approximately 353 billion won), respectively.

Apple and Broadcom appealed the first trial ruling to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. However, in February last year, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled that the plaintiff failed to prove evidence that could invalidate Caltech’s patents.

In response, Apple and Broadcom filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, requesting a review of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ interpretation. However, the Supreme Court did not accept it. Accordingly, the two companies now face only the trial related to the amount of damages to be paid to Caltech.

Before the Supreme Court’s dismissal, the Biden administration also intervened, supporting the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling. According to multiple foreign media reports, Elizabeth Prelogar, U.S. Deputy Attorney General, urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Apple’s appeal.

A Prestigious Private Science and Engineering Institute Rivaling MIT

Caltech is a prestigious private science and engineering institute established in California, the birthplace of Silicon Valley. Founded in 1891, it is a historic educational institution with over 130 years of history and is regarded as a peer to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.

As a research-focused university, Caltech is also famous for holding numerous advanced industry-related patents comparable to those of patent assertion entities. Its fields cover not only information and communication technologies such as Wi-Fi but also semiconductors, electronic devices, software, and biotechnology.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics is also engaged in a legal dispute with Caltech. In 2021, Caltech filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Texas, claiming that Samsung Electronics had unauthorizedly used five patents related to Wi-Fi semiconductor technology.

The three patents that were ruled as infringed in the Apple-Broadcom lawsuit were also applied in the lawsuit against Samsung Electronics.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.