Jury orders Apple, chip maker to pay $1.1B for violating Caltech patent

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The California Institute of Technology is owed more than $1 billion in damages by tech companies Apple and Broadcom for patent infringement, a federal court jury has ruled.

The jury decided Wednesday the companies violated the school's patents on Wi-Fi transmissions and must pay $1.1 billion -- $838 million from Apple and $270 million from Broadcom.

Caltech's patents involve a coding system that corrects errors in the transmission of data used in the 802.11 Wi-Fi standard. The university sued in 2016 when it argued Broadcom Wi-Fi chips in Apple products used the proprietary technology in numerous products, including iPhones iPads, iPods, Watches and Apple computers.

"Broadcom's and Apple's continuing acts of infringement are irreparably harming and causing damage to Caltech, for which Caltech has no adequate remedy at law, and will continue to suffer such irreparable injury unless Broadcom's and Apple's continuing acts of infringement are enjoined by the court," Caltech argued in the suit.

Both companies have denied infringing on Caltech's designs, and Apple said it will appeal the decision.