Apple Ordered to Pay Caltech $838 Million for Infringing on WiFi Patents - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Ordered to Pay Caltech $838 Million for Infringing on WiFi Patents

by

Apple and Broadcom have been ordered to pay the California Institute of Technology a fine of $1.1 billion for infringing on Caltech's patents related to WiFi transmissions, reports Bloomberg.

Apple has been ordered to pay $838 million, while Broadcom has been ordered to pay $270 million, but Apple plans to file an appeal.

Caltech Wi Fi featured
Caltech in 2016 filed a lawsuit against Broadcom and Apple, claiming that the two companies infringed on a series of patents granted between 2006 and 2012. The patents in question relate to IRA/LDPC codes that use simpler encoding and decoding circuity for improved data transmission rates and performance, with the technologies used in the 802.11n and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standards supported by many Apple products.

At the time, Caltech said that Apple was infringing on four of its patents with the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV, Airport routers, and Apple Watch. Caltech demanded a jury trial and preliminary and permanent injunctions in the U.S. against Apple products using its technology. A jury today ruled that Apple and Broadcom violated three of the four patents.

Apple and Broadcom denied infringing on the patents and even filed counterclaims against Caltech, urging the court to invalidate the patents in question.

Apple claimed that because Caltech didn't file the lawsuit until 2016, six years after the 802.11n wireless standard was published, the time limit to collect damages had expired. Apple also argued that Caltech does not make, use, or sell products that practice the claims in the asserted patents.

Tags: Caltech, Apple Lawsuits, Patent Lawsuits

Popular Stories

iphone 16 teal

Apple's Siri Settlement: Here's When iPhone Owners Can Submit Claims

Friday August 28, 2026 11:01 am PDT by
In May, Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit over Siri AI's delayed launch, and eligible iPhone users could receive up to a $95 payout. Today, a new court document revealed when customers will likely be able to begin submitting claims. If the dates proposed by Apple's lawyers are approved by the judge, eligible customers would begin to be notified about the...
Read Full Article • 39 comments
OpenAI vs Apple Feature

Dispute With OpenAI Said to Be a 'Mess of Apple's Own Making'

Tuesday September 1, 2026 5:06 am PDT by
OpenAI yesterday denied Apple's allegations of trade secret theft, telling a federal court that Apple failed to show any confidential information was actually stolen by its former employees, according to Reuters. In a new filing submitted to the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, OpenAI argued that the dispute is "a mess of Apple's own making." The filing is a direct response to...
Read Full Article • 70 comments
generic tracking prompt orange

Apple Hit With $2.7 Billion Lawsuit Over App Tracking Rules

Thursday September 3, 2026 7:46 am PDT by
Apple is facing a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) lawsuit in London accusing it of imposing stricter App Tracking Transparency rules on third party developers than on its own advertising services (via Reuters). The case, filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, follows a similar suit in which the tribunal ordered Apple to pay around £1.5 billion over App Store commissions last October, a...
Read Full Article • 89 comments

Top Rated Comments

M
MikhailT
86 months ago

I can understand a for-profit entity going after patent violations, but educational institutions should be donating their work to the world for the greater good, I think. What's the motive behind this? Schools are not in the business of profiting from patents, are they?
Yes, they are. In US, schools need to make money to fund their research and since a lot of companies use their research without paying for it, schools are turning into patent trolls to get some funding.

Tuition isn't enough to pay for all of the advanced tech stuff that they use and even tuition is too expensive.

I agree with you that state-funded school research should be automatically in the public domain but that's not it works in USA.

In my opinion, patent trolls should not be allowed to file a lawsuit after 5 years and these type of patents should be automatically expired after 10 years. Software patents should be banned.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hagjohn Avatar
hagjohn
86 months ago
Maybe that's why Apple's profits are so high, they haven't paid any patents costs.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
robjulo
86 months ago
They should be donating their work to a private business? Apple should be donating it’s huge cash hoard for the world’s greater good instead of hoarding it in Ireland. How about we start there.


I can understand a for-profit entity going after patent violations, but educational institutions should be donating their work to the world for the greater good, I think. What's the motive behind this? Schools are not in the business of profiting from patents, are they?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ikramerica Avatar
ikramerica
86 months ago
Apple should settle by donating $850M to Caltech scholarship fund.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Infinite Vortex Avatar
Infinite Vortex
86 months ago

Schools are not in the business of profiting from patents, are they?
The last time I looked most, if not all, educational facilities need more than smiles and candy-floss to keep the lights on let alone fund the student/staff educations and research programs. And the fact of the matter is they have a right to their intellectual property and claim upon its value just the same as anyone else.

if you look at it the other way this, if proven, is tantamount to stealing from the eduction of the future.

But it's sad that Apple seems to think there's a use by date for being fair to those who create technologies. Interesting that didn't seem to apply when they chased Samsung for their infringements.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
coolfactor
86 months ago
I can understand a for-profit entity going after patent violations, but educational institutions should be donating their work to the world for the greater good, I think. What's the motive behind this? Schools are not in the business of profiting from patents, are they?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments