First Monday: U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear UW appeal against Apple for patent infringement

By Eric Taylor, Evening Reference Librarian

The first Monday of the new U.S. Supreme Court term saw the court issue an order denying the University of Wisconsin’s appeal against Apple for patent infringement.  In denying certiorari, the high court left in place a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision that overturned an earlier jury verdict against Apple for $506 million in damages.  The controversy started in 2014 when the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) filed suit alleging infringement of a 1998 patent on a “predictor circuit” developed at UW-Madison.  Apple disputed the claim throughout.  They said their processor worked differently based on the specific language found in the WARF patent.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that based on the “plain and ordinary” meaning of the patent, Apple could not have infringed it. (Reuters)