Qualcomm on Friday told a San Diego jury that it deserves $31 million in damages from Apple for patent infringement violations. That comes out to $1.40 per alleged infringing iPhone.
CNET:
One patent allows a smartphone to quickly connect to the internet once the device is turned on. Another deals with graphics processing and battery life. The third lets apps on your phone download data more easily by directing traffic between the apps processor and the modem.
The $31 million in damages would be a drop in the bucket for Apple — which briefly became a $1 trillion company last year — but a victory for Qualcomm would help to brandish its reputation as a mobile components innovator and lend credibility to the idea that much of those innovations went into iPhones.
The $31 million figure indicates Qualcomm believes 22 million iPhones infringe on their technology. The San Diego firm came up with the numbers with the help of economist Patrick Kennedy, who took the stand as an expert witness for Qualcomm on Friday. Kennedy tallied the figure based on iPhones sold since 2017 using chips made by Intel.
Apple and Qualcomm have been fighting it out in court since January 2017 when Apple sued the San Diego modem chipmaker for $1 billion in unpaid royalty fees.Qualcomm countersued and both firms’ legal teams began racking up the billable hours.
The current patent trial between the two tech giants will last through next week.