Apple and Broadcom are a stone’s throw away from reaching a potential settlement agreement with the California Institute of Technology – otherwise known as Caltech – in a $1.1 billion patent infringement lawsuit pertaining to certain Wi-Fi technologies, according to a recent court filing (via Reuters).
Filing for the settlement agreement was processed at the United States District Court for the Central District of California, located in Los Angeles, according to a court document obtained by Reuters. The document was filed on Thursday, August 10, and explicitly names only Broadcom as part of the settlement agreement. As such, it remains to be seen if Apple is also part of the potential settlement. All parties involved were ordered to file a joint status report no later than Friday, August 18. Apple, Broadcom, and Caltech declined to comment following the court’s proceedings.
In 2016, Pasadena-based Caltech first filed a lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom in the federal court of Los Angeles. The lawsuit claimed that many Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and others equipped with Broadcom Wi-Fi chips, had infringed upon Caltech’s patents related to data transmission. Caltech has similarly filed separate lawsuits against Microsoft, Samsung, Dell, and HP in other cases which are still awaiting outcomes.
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In 2020, a jury ruled in Caltech’s favor, resulting in a penalty of $837.8 million from Apple to Caltech, while Broadcom was ordered to pay $270.2 million. However, the Federal Circuit expressed concerns about the awarded amounts and consequently ordered a new trial – which is yet to be scheduled – with an outlook to change the amount of damages to be paid.
In May, it was revealed that the Biden administration interjected itself in the case via the US Solicitor General, who requested that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) reject a joint Apple-Broadcom appeal over the validity of the patents in dispute.
While the Federal Circuit proceedings were underway, Apple and Broadcom contended that they should have had the ability to challenge the patents’ validity throughout the trial. Nonetheless, the appeals court upheld the decision that disallowed the introduction of arguments regarding patent invalidity. The court pointed to Apple’s prior chance to voice its concerns about the disputed patents during their evaluation by the US Patent Office as the basis for this ruling.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar has backed the prior decision of the Federal Circuit. This decision upholds the notion that the companies are not permitted to dispute the legitimacy of Caltech’s patents in court. The rationale behind this stance is that Apple should have raised its concerns about the patents’ validity during the registration process with the US Patent Office, rather than in a courtroom setting.
