Jury Awards $1.1 Billion in Damages For Caltech in Patent Infringement Case Against Apple and Broadcom

After a two-and-one-half-week jury trial in the Central District of California, a jury returned a unanimous $1.1 billion patent infringement verdict for Quinn Emanuel’s client the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”) against Apple and Broadcom.  The jury found all asserted claims of the three patents in the case infringed by both Apple and Broadcom and awarded the full damages requested by Caltech as fair compensation for Apple and Broadcom’s years of unauthorized use of Caltech’s technology.

            In early 2000, Caltech invented a revolutionary type of error correction coding that performed at or near theoretical perfection.  The technology was also efficient, which meant it could be used commercially.  Error correction technology prevents and corrects errors that occur when sending information, like texts, pictures, or videos, across information channels, like Wi-Fi.  Caltech’s technology meant that electronic data could be transmitted faster, in larger quantities, and more accurately, all while conserving battery life.  It dramatically improves performance of technologies like Wi-Fi. 

            The technology was invented by Professor Robert McEliece and two of his graduate students, Hui Jin and Aamod Khandekar, and was ahead of its time.  Many of its applications, including to Wi-Fi, were nascent fields at the time.  Years after the invention, Apple and Broadcom began incorporating this technology in every Wi-Fi product they made, including iPhones, iPads, iMacs, MacBooks, Apple watches, AirPort routers, and Wi-Fi chips.