Caltech ends high-stakes US patent fight with Apple and Broadcom

The California Institute of Technology has reached an agreement to end a patent lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom over Wi-Fi chips, according to a filing in California federal court.

Pasadena, California-based Caltech sued Apple and Broadcom in 2016, alleging that millions of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and other Apple devices using Broadcom chips infringed its wireless-communication patents.

Caltech said in the Wednesday filing that it would dismiss the billion-dollar case with prejudice, which means that it cannot be refiled.


Both sides told the court in August that they had reached a "potential settlement" without disclosing additional details. Representatives for Caltech, Apple and Broadcom did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

A jury ordered Apple to pay $837.8 million and Broadcom to pay $270.2 million in patent-infringement damages in 2020.

A U.S. appeals court overturned the award last year and ordered a new trial on damages, finding the amount was "legally unsupportable." A trial that had been scheduled to start this June was postponed indefinitely in May.

Caltech settled a related lawsuit against Samsung in August. The university has also sued Microsoft, Dell and HP over its Wi-Fi patents in cases that are still pending.