Fresh From the Bench: Latest Precedential Patent Case

CASE OF THE WEEK

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Apple Inc., Appeal Nos. 2022-1884, -1886 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 28, 2024)

In its only precedential patent decision last week, the Federal Circuit brought to a close a long-running dispute between the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and Apple concerning allegations of infringement of Apple’s A7, A8, A9, and A10 processors. The dispute involved two separate patent lawsuits concerning a single patent. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that WARF had waived its right to pursue a doctrine of equivalents verdict, and that decision permeated both cases.

WARF sued Apple in 2014. That lawsuit (“WARF I”) accused Apple’s A7 and A8 processors of infringing WARF’s patent. In September 2015, WARF filed a second lawsuit directed at Apple’s A9 processor (“WARF II”). The complaint in WARF II was later amended to include the A10 processor. In briefing, the parties agreed the A9 and A10 processors were not more than colorably different from the A7 and A8 processors in relation to the patent claims. WARF II was stayed pending a final decision in WARF I.

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Editors:

Nika Aldrich, IP Litigation Group Leader, Schwabe

Jason A. Wrubleski, Shareholder