Apple and Broadcom Lose Appeal on Patent Infringement Case

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.