University of Wisconsin-Madison cites two Indians' work in $862 million patent case against Apple

WASHINGTON: Gurindar Sohi and T N Vijaykumar are not names that will leap out of your latest iPhones as you gush over the performance of Apple's much-coveted devices. But the work of these two Indian researchers, alumni of BITS-Pilani, is central to a patent lawsuit that may result in Apple having to cough up $862 million in alandmark case that underscores the seminal role that university research -and Indian engineers -play in the American high-tech eco-system.

A US jury on Tuesday found the iPhone maker incorporated technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission in chips found in many of its most popular devices. The case relates to Apple's use of A7, A8, and A8X chips, which are present in the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and the new iPhone 6S (plus some models of he iPad), and which are said to contain technology covered by a 1998 patent filed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (aka WARF).

In court documents, WARF, which is the designated patent management organization of University of Wisconsin-Madison and uses revenue from patents to support research of its alumni, cited the work of four researchers, including Sohi and Vijaykumar, as being central to improving the performance of the chips Apple used. Their work, outlined in a paper titled "Table based Data Speculation Circuit for Parallel Processing Computer," had received patent # 5781752 or the simply known as the `752 patent,' the University said.

US District Judge William Conley , who is presiding over the case, has indicated Apple could be liable for up to $862.4 million in damages. He has scheduled the trial to proceed in three phases: liability , damages, and finally , whether Apple infringed the patent willfully , which could lead to enhanced penalties.

Sohi has been a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1985. Vijaykumar is professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University .