Just yesterday Apple was ordered to pay $507 million in damages by a U.S. judge. The tech giant has been accused of patent infringement in relation to a microprocessor technology Ip owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Apple’s history in court
Apple was originally taken to court in October 2015 for the infringement where a federal jury found the company guilty. Apple then initially faced damages of up to $862 million, however, the judge ruled that Apple had not deliberately infringed on the patent and the amount was reduced to $234 million.
Yesterday, Apple was taken to court in relation to the same issue and the judge doubled the 2015 damages. Apple must now pay $507 million in damages.
Why was Apple taken to court?
Before we discuss why the damages have been increased, it is important to understand exactly why Apple was taken to court.
The lawsuit was based on the 1998 patent for improving chip efficiency owned by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. A number of Apple’s products violate this patent according to the foundation. This includes any product that uses Apple’s A7, A8 and A8X chips, including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and well as a number of iPads.
Claims suggest the IP improves power efficiency as well as performance in modern computer processor designs by using ‘predictor circuit’ technology. The university has been successful in past cases as it forced Intel into a settlement over the same patent in 2008.
Apple’s denial
During the original court proceedings, Apple denied infringement. That also requested the US Parent and Trademark Office review the validity of the patent but their request was denied.
Apple must now pay extra damages because the continued to infringe on the patent until it expired in December 2016. However, Apple has appealed the ruling and is yet to comment.
