It’s not off the hook, but it’s paying much less than previously expected.
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.
We’ve asked Apple for comment.
WiLan had argued that many Apple products, including iPhones ranging from the 6 to the 7 Plus, had been using voice over LTE technology covered by two patents.
It’s a rare instance of WiLan declaring victory over Apple. The Canadian “patent monetization” company (read: patent troll) has largely been unsuccessful in getting Apple to pay for claimed patent violations. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if there was more in the future. WiLan’s business depends on these kinds of lawsuits, and Apple is a particularly large target.
