Apple and Broadcom have lost an appeal in a long-running patent infringement case related to Wi-Fi in Apple devices.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal
regarding Apple vs California Institute of Technology, Seeking Alpha reported
Monday (June 26).
Apple and Broadcom now face a trial in which it will be
determined how much they must pay for patent infringements, The Wall Street
Journal (WSJ) reported Monday.
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) sued the
two companies in 2016 alleging that Broadcom Wi-Fi chips used in Apple devices
violated its patents.
Caltech argued that Apple intentionally and knowingly
advertised gains from technology patented by Caltech. The suit sought to
recover damages from the infringement and block the sale of the contested
products until a settlement was reached.
The patents “allow for faster data transfer” and hardware
simplification.
Broadcom, which created the Wi-Fi chips used in iPhone and
MacBook devices, also faced the claim of infringement.
Apple and Broadcom argued that the patents should not have
been granted in the first place, but a Patent and Trademark administrative
court ruled that the patents were valid, according to the WSJ report.
In 2020, a jury in the lawsuit brought by Caltech ruled that
the companies infringed the patents and awarded the university $1.1 billion,
the report said.
When the companies appealed, a U.S. Court of Appeals upheld
the jury’s findings in February 2022 but ordered a new trial on damages, per
the report.
The court ruled that the amount must be recalculated because
it was not justified, according to the Seeking Alpha report.
Apple and Broadcom’s appeal to the Supreme Court argued that
they were improperly blocked from making arguments in the new trial that they
could have made earlier, the WSJ report said.
With Monday’s ruling, however, they can contest only the
amount that they must pay.
In another potential challenge faced by Apple, it was
reported in May that the European Commission (EC) is asking retailers and the
tech giant’s rivals about Apple Pay.
The antitrust regulators are investigating allegations that
Apple makes it difficult for rivals to develop mobile payment systems on its
devices by restricting their access to near-field communication (NFC), which is
the tap-to-pay technology used for mobile wallets.