Supreme Court declines to revive University of Wisconsin infringement suit against Apple

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Monday declined to reopen a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple by the University of Wisconsin's licensing division.

The court chose not to review a lower court's decision to dismiss the $506 million in damages Apple was ordered to pay for allegedly infringing on technology patented by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in 1998.

WARF had said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which handles patent appeals, has a history of inconsistency when deciding what cases to award a new trial and which to throw out.

The foundation's 2014 lawsuit stated that Apple infringed on its patent for a "predictor circuit" to boost processing power, which it used in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus and some versions of the iPad.

Apple stated that its processor was separate and distinct, citing specific language in WARF's patent.

In 2015, a federal jury ordered Apple to pay $234 million in damages that was later increased to $506 million.

Last year, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Apple couldn't have infringed upon the patent based on the "plain and ordinary" meaning.

WARF said it plans to continue seeking damages from Apple through the U.S. District Court.

"As the University of Wisconsin-Madison's patenting and licensing arm, WARF has an obligation to diligently protect the intellectual property rights of our UW-Madison partners and we look forward to continuing to defend those rights in the District Court," the foundation said.