WiLAN
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Apple settles voice over LTE patent dispute with WiLAN
Following years of litigation, Canadian “patent monetization” firm WiLAN has signed a licensing agreement with Apple.
Apple gets its WiLan patent payout reduced to $85.2 million
Apple won't have to pay WiLan as much as expected for alleged patent violations. A retrial jury has reduced the damages from WiLan's lawsuit from the original $145.1 million (determined in 2018) down to slightly over $85.2 million. That's still no small sum, but it could be considered a small victory. The judge in the original case had effectively ordered a retrial after agreeing with Apple that WiLan had used a flawed method to calculate the size of the damages -- WiLan had to either agree to a new trial or risk walking away with 'just' $10 million.
Apple hit with $145 million fine for WiLan patent infringement
Apple has been hit with yet another patent infringement fine. Canadian patent licensing company WiLan took the tech giant to task over two patents relating to wireless communication within the iPhone. WiLan – which isn't shy about suing the wireless industry over alleged patent violations – has been awarded $145.1 million in damages by a federal jury in California. Apple, naturally, says it plans to appeal the decision. This isn't the first time the two companies have locked horns – in 2013 a jury ruled in favour of Apple in a separate litigation where WiLan sought $248 million in damages.
WiLAN loses lawsuit against Apple over cellular data patents
WiLAN has made a solid business out of suing the wireless industry over alleged patent violations, coaxing settlements out of HTC, Novatel and four other heavyweights. It won't get any money from Apple, though, as an Eastern District of Texas court has ruled that the iPhone maker didn't infringe on a WiLAN patent covering CDMA and HSPA data transmissions. The court also invalidated two claims in the patent, which makes it that much harder for WiLAN to sue others. Apple isn't completely out of the woods when the plaintiff is "reviewing its options." However, we suspect that the case doesn't have a leg to stand on -- especially not in a legal climate that's increasingly hostile toward patent trolls.
WiLAN lawyers up, picks patent fight with Apple, Dell, HP, HTC and others
You know what the tech world needs? More patent litigation, which is why WiLAN is at it again in the rocket docket of the Eastern District of Texas. This time, instead of suing cable companies, it's going after the likes of Apple, Dell, HP, HTC, Kyocera, Novatel, Alcatel-Lucent and Sierra Wireless. There are two patents at issue: no. RE37,802 that covers CDMA and HSPA data transmission, and no. 5,282,222 which is related to data transmission tech with WiFi and LTE. Will the plucky patent troll get some quick cash, or will the big boys fight this one to the end? Stay tuned.
Shocker! WiLAN drums up another lawsuit, this time against big cable
As the saying goes, every time an iPhone is dropped, another wide sweeping patent lawsuit in the tech world sprouts up in the plaintiff-friendly US District courts of east Texas. Okay, so perhaps there's no factual basis for that, but who knows if the latest case filed by suit-happy Canadian wireless company WiLAN against Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter Communications is any more legitimate. The dispute is over US patent No. 5,661,602, which is one of the company's 970 issued or pending patents, and was awarded in 1998. It covers "hybrid multichannel data transmission systems utilizing a broadcast medium" -- a.k.a. the broadcasting of data to remote networks and computers. WiLAN has tapped their ole' favorite US law firm, McKool Smith for the case, and asserts that the big cable triumvirate is in violation of the patent, though a spokesperson for Comcast did note they had not been served with a complaint just yet. Sadly (or not-so-sadly, depending on perspective) we can't take part in the gavel swinging, but considering that WiLAN filed suit against Alcatel-Lucent, Sony Ericsson and LG last month, and sued Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, and Lenovo in April, there's plenty of evidence that this outfit's lawyers are the hardest working employees on the payroll.
