Apple Ordered To Pay $506 Million In Damages For Processor Patent Infringement (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes from a report via Hot Hardware: Apple has been ordered to feed a recognized patent troll hundreds of millions of dollars for infringing on a patent that has to do with technology built into its A-series mobile processors. Initially Apple was on the hook for $234 million, owed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) after it won a patent dispute against the Cupertino tech giant. However, a judge this week more than doubled the fine by tacking on an additional $272 million. U.S District Judge William Conley in Madison ruled that Apple owed additional damages plus interest because it continued to infringe on the patent all the way up until it expired in 2016. WARF is reportedly a non-practicing entity that exists only currently by defending its patents in litigation. The lawsuit filed in 2014 involves U.S. Patent No. 5,871,752, which describes the use of a predictor circuit that can help processors run more efficiently. WARF claimed the technology was used in Apple's A7, A8, and A8X processors that power the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and various iterations of the iPad. Apple is not commenting on the matter, though it's being reported that Apple plans to fight and appeal the ruling.

Comments

All that predictor technology...

[K. S. Kyosuke]

...and they still didn't see it coming!

Having said that, is this WARF really a patent troll? My (foreigner's) understanding is that in the US, universities often expect some returns on their research in form of patent royalties.

Re: All that predictor technology...

[ShanghaiBill]

They genuinely represent university inventors

That doesn't make them "not a troll". All trolls represent "inventors" in some way. But very very few of these inventions are "stolen". What generally happens is someone (Apple in this case) comes up with an idea independently, implements it in a real product, and is then sued by the troll for "stealing" the idea. Almost anything you can imagine is already patented. It is very rare for a company designing a new product to search the patent database for ideas to license, and equally rare for inventors to go out and market their inventions to established companies. The "inventors" are adding nothing of value to the process. They are just parasites. That doesn't change just because they work at a university.

Re: All that predictor technology...

[dgatwood]

More likely they deliberately decided to use known technology without paying the inventor(s).

More likely, they deliberately added technology based on one of the patents that they have a permanent joint license for from IBM/Motorola as part of their AIM Alliance deal in the late 90s, and the technology just happens to be very similar to what these folks independently invented and patented a few years later.

Re:Not a troll.

[msauve]

OTOH, why shouldn't the benefits of those inventions developed with public funds go back to supporting the public university, reducing the public's burden for supporting them? Shouldn't the public receive a return on their investment? The alternative you seem to be suggesting is that those inventions which are paid for by the public end up benefiting private companies.