Apple ordered to pay university a tiny $506 million patent fine
Tiny to Apple, at least.
Apple is no stranger to patent lawsuits, but the tech giant has been dragged through the mud again after a judge added a hefty additional fine to a case originally heard in 2015. The company has been ordered to pay the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) $506 million for infringing on a patent involving processors found in some versions of the iPhone. The patent was obtained by WARF in 1998.
The damages initially imposed on Apple by a jury totaled $234 million, but US District Judge William Conley added $272 million after Apple continued to infringe the patent until it expired in December 2016. The huge sum will barely make a dent in Apple's finances, but the company is said to be appealing the ruling. It's not the first time WARF has proven to be a thorn in the industry's side, either. The foundation filed a case against Intel in 2008 for using the same patent, and not long after making the original infringement claim it filed another lawsuit against Apple over the company's A9 CPUs.
