You are currently viewing US Jury Directs Apple To Pay Quarterhill Inc. $85 Million In New Ruling

US Jury Directs Apple To Pay Quarterhill Inc. $85 Million In New Ruling

Quarterhill Inc. has won Apple in a patent licensing court case that will see the Canadian based company receive $85 million. According to a San Diego court decision by members of the jury, Apple had infringed on Quarterhill Inc’s rights.

 

The case began after WiLan Inc. (Quarterhill’s former name) had said Apple stole its patents in making new smartphones. These two patents in contention allow phone users to continue downloading data even while on calls.

 

Phone users have always found it infuriating that internet connection stops during calls and thus the solution from Quaterhill. In 2018, Apple had been directed to pay up to $145 million over this same case by a different jury.

 

However, A Southern California district judge Dana Sabraw had agreed with Apple that Quarterhill had inaccurately calculated their damages. Thus, ruling that the payments should be $10 million.

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It had in turn filed for another trial. Now, a Bloomberg report confirms that Quarterhill Inc. had won and is set to get the sum of $85 million from Apple.

 

This new ruling is likely based on the fact that Apple sold lots of smartphones in 2019. Before now, Quarterhill Inc had previously dragged Apple to court. However, they had lost the case in 2013, marking its major patent-licensing case in its history.

 

When Quarterhill began as WiLan in 1992, its main focus was on wireless technology. However, it gradually changed its business from the former to patent licensing. It is popular for suing big technology firms that use any of its patents without proper licensing from them.

 

Notably, Quarterhill Inc. signed big-money deals with tech firms. It had businesses with Nokia, LG Electronics, Samsung, Fujitsu, Intel, Panasonic among others.

 

There has been no official statement whether Apple plans to appeal this ruling or not. In 2019, Quarterhill had stated that it had made $157.6 million from its patent licensing business for the year.

 

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Onwuasoanya Obinna

A reader of books and stringer of words. Passionate about Science and Tech. When not writing or reading he is surfing the web and Tweeting.

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