McKool Smith has secured an $85 million patent damages verdict on behalf of Ottawa, Canada-based WiLAN Inc. against Apple, Inc.
The verdict was announced on January 24, 2020, following a jury trial before Judge Dana M. Sabraw in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. After three hours of deliberations, jurors awarded WiLAN $85.23 million in damages – the full amount that the company requested. In a previous trial in August 2018, Apple was found to have infringed WiLAN’s 8,457,145 and 8,537,757 patents, which cover voiceover LTE ("VoLTE") wireless communication technology used in many Apple products, including the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus.
“This was an important trial to determine the jury's award of damages for the infringement of WiLAN’s novel wireless patents,” said Mike McKool, Chairman of McKool Smith. “The jury worked hard to weigh the evidence in this case and our client is very pleased with the verdict.”
Along with Mike McKool, the McKool Smith trial team included firm principal Warren Lipschitz and associate Christopher P. McNett.
The case is Wi-LAN Inc v. Apple Inc., case number 3:14-cv-02235-DMS-BLM, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.