Apple is already preparing its appeal to a Friday court ruling that would see the tech giant pay the University of Wisconsin more than $234 million in damages for patent infringement, Reuters reported.
At the end of last week, a jury determined Apple was at fault in failing to ask the university’s permission before using patented microchip technology to improve performance of some of its iPhones and iPads. Among the Apple products that reportedly benefited from the technology were the A7, A8 and A8X processors found in the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus and several versions of the iPad.
Though the verdict awarded the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) little more than half of the $400 million in damages it originally sought in the case, the foundation counted the decision as a win.
“This is a case where the hard work of our university researchers and the integrity of patenting and licensing discoveries has prevailed,” WARF’s managing director Carl Gulbrandsen said. “The jury recognized the seminal computer processing work that took place on our campus. This decision is great news for the inventors, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and for WARF.”
Currently celebrating its 90th anniversary, WARF works with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to patent and commercialize innovations created on campus. The foundation currently manages over 1,600 licensing agreements.
“The University of Wisconsin has a long history of creative innovation across many fields,” WARF general counsel Michael Falk said. “WARF invests in patenting UW inventions for the benefit of the UW and the public. It is a serious matter for us to undertake litigation to protect the UW’s patented inventions. It is important to faculty and to the UW that patented, innovative technologies developed on campus are protected from unauthorized use.”
Though the foundation acknowledged in a statement that the decision will likely be appealed, it said it hopes to resolve the matter and build a stronger relationship with Apple going forward.
