Shares of San Diego-based Qualcomm closed up more than 2 percent Friday after a local jury ruled against Apple in a patent-infringement suit.
The jury in U.S. District Court in San Diego found that Apple‘s iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and X infringe on two Qualcomm patents, and the 8, 8 Plus and X also infringe on a third patent.
The jury awarded Qualcomm $31 million in damages for infringement of the patents from July 6, 2017, the date the lawsuit was filed, through the end of the trial.
“Today’s unanimous jury verdict is the latest victory in our worldwide patent litigation directed at holding Apple accountable for using our valuable technologies without paying for them,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel for Qualcomm.
The three infringed patents cover technologies invented in San Diego by the wireless pioneer. Qualcomm said the patents enable smartphones to start quickly, make fast Internet connections and conserve battery life.
“The technologies invented by Qualcomm and others are what made it possible for Apple to enter the market and become so successful so quickly,” Rosenberg said. “The three patents found to be infringed in this case represent just a small fraction of Qualcomm’s valuable portfolio of tens of thousands of patents.”
The court victory for Qualcomm comes a day after Japan’s Fair Trade Commission reversed a 2009 cease-and-desist order affecting Qualcomm’s technology licensing that country.
However, the long-running dispute between Apple and Qualcomm is by no means over. Another trial is scheduled to begin in San Diego next month, and a judge is still weighing arguments made in a trial that ended earlier this year.
