Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Apple Inc.

WARF sued Apple for infringement of the 752 patent, which relates to how computer processors execute a computer program’s instructions. The patent, which expired in December 2016, describes a specific prediction technique for an out-of-order processor. After a bifurcated trial, a jury found Apple liable for infringement and awarded over $234 million in damages. The district court denied Apple’s post-trial motions. The Federal Circuit reversed, stating no reasonable juror could have found infringement based on the evidence presented during the liability phase of the trial. Drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of WARF, there is insufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Apple’s products literally satisfy the “particular” limitation. The court affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of WARF on invalidity. Rather than improperly reading a limitation from the preferred embodiment into the claims, the district court properly read the claim term in the context of the entire patent. Rejecting an argument that the claims were anticipated the court stated that no reasonable juror could find that prior art discloses the “prediction” limitation of the 752 patent’s claims. View "Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Apple Inc." on Justia Law