Apple Caltech legal battle over wifi patents nears finish line

The California Institute of Technology, a private research university, has reached a “potential settlement” in the 2016 lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom, Reuters reports.

Reuters cites this court filing and a conference call held to discuss the matter:

The potential settlement was disclosed in a court document filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles without further details following a telephone conference. It was unclear if the agreement involved both Apple and Broadcom.

A joint status report from each party involved is due in court on August 18.

As a refresher, Caltech won its legal battle against Apple and Broadcom over wifi patent infringement in 2020.

Apple was ordered to pay $838 million in damages to Caltech as part of a $1.1 billion package with Broadcom. Naturally, Apple appealed and the amount in damaged was ruled legally unsustainable. A new trial was granted to reevaluate the total amount.

However, the trial set for June this year was indefinitely postponed a month before it was scheduled to begin. Now it appears the seven-year-old legal saga could conclude before the end of the month.

Following the joint status report filing on August 18, a status conference will take place on August 24.