The billion-dollar patent dispute between the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Apple, and Broadcom over Wi-Fi chips is reportedly on the verge of reaching a final settlement. On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, Caltech announced its plan to withdraw its patent lawsuit in the federal court of California. While the specific details of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed, this was reported by Reuters on Thursday, October 12, 2023. As of now, representatives from Caltech, Apple, and Broadcom have not commented on the developments as of Thursday, October 12, 2023.

The Genesis of Caltech's Patent Lawsuit Against Apple

This patent lawsuit began in 2016 when Caltech filed a lawsuit against Apple and Broadcom, alleging that millions of Apple devices using Broadcom chips had infringed upon their wireless communication technology patents. These patents encompass encoding and decoding circuits crucial for enhancing data transmission performance, particularly in Wi-Fi technologies like 802.11n and 802.11ac.

Broadcom, a major supplier to Apple, had signed a $15 billion agreement, equivalent to Rp235.5 trillion, to provide chips for future products, including the iPhone. Apple, in turn, attempted to countersue in an effort to invalidate Caltech's patents, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.

In 2020, a judge ordered Apple to pay around $837.8 million, or approximately Rp13.1 trillion, as compensation for patent infringement, while Broadcom was mandated to pay $270.2 million, equivalent to Rp4.2 trillion. However, in 2021, following Apple's appeal, the court overturned this decision and opted to determine a more legally sound compensation amount, as the previous ruling was deemed legally unsound.

Caltech had also previously sued Samsung for infringing their Wi-Fi technology patents, but the two parties reached an agreement early in 2023. Additionally, Caltech has separately filed lawsuits against Microsoft, Dell, and HP for the same patents, with those cases still awaiting further decisions.