A United States jury has ordered Apple to pay over $234 million in damages to the patent licensing unit of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as the tech giant was found guilty of patent infringement.
The amount is less than what the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation was trying to claim, after the jury said earlier in the week that Apple infringed the university's patent for the improvement of computer processors. Apple allegedly used the microchip technology in some of its iPhones and iPads without gaining permission from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation was looking to claim $400 million for the infringement.
The maximum amount of damages that Apple could have paid was up to $862 million, as reported earlier in the week.
Specifically, the jury found that the A7, A8 and A8X processors used by Apple in the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, along with several models of the iPad, utilized unlicensed technology that is owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
Apple said that it would be appealing the verdict, but issued no further comment on the matter.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation lauded the jury's verdict, stating that it was important for the university to protect its inventions against unauthorized usage.
The jury took over three hours to deliberate on the case before releasing its verdict. The case started in January of last year, when the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly infringing on its 1998 patent for a "predictor circuit," which was developed by a professor of computer science named Gurindar Sohi along with three students.
The dispute over the damages mostly dealt with the issue on whether the chips of Apple that were inside devices sold overseas, instead of within the country, also violated the patent. The jury found Apple guilty.
Apple tried to limit its liability in the case, arguing that it should pay less than the $110 million that was paid by Intel in 2008 in a case over the same patent. Apple sought to pay only 7 cents for each device sold that infringed the patent, which was much lower compared to the $2.74 per device figure that the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation was trying to claim.
The dispute is not over yet though, as the university has lodged another lawsuit against Apple, this time for the newest microchips that were used in the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPad Pro.
