Wi-LAN perks up on partial validation in Apple infringement case

Shares of Wi-LAN (TSX:WIN) traded hands heavily Wednesday, ending the TSX session up 3.4%. The reason for the activity was a measure of redemption. The Ottawa-based company received upbeat news in its patent infringement case against Apple, which represented a painful loss for the company last October.

Today, U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap today ruled that claims 1 and 10 of Wi-LAN Inc.’s U.S. Patent No. RE37,802 (the company’s “802” patent) were improperly invalidated by the jury last autumn in Texas.

“The court is unable to find that the jury’s finding as to the invalidity of claims 1 and 10 of the 802 patent is supported by substantial evidence,” Gilstrap wrote in his decision today. “Accordingly, the jury’s invalidity verdict cannot stand.”

CEO Jim Skippen said the company was particularly confident in the patent.

“We believed all along that the claims in our 802 patent were valid, and this decision just reaffirms that belief,” he said. “We also believe that the judge’s ruling will be of significant benefit to Wi-LAN with respect to any future appeals we may make to the U.S. federal courts concerning our ongoing intellectual property disputes with Apple.”

Wi-LAN had been seeking $248-million in damages for infringement of two Wi-FI and CDMA patents, but there is no word yet on what the potential stakes might be now.

Wi-LAN’s “802” patent, issued in July 2002, is titled “Multicode direct sequence spread spectrum”. The company has launched claims against numerous companies that sell various wireless communications products including cell phones, modems and PCs that use technology derived from these patents, which relate to LTE, Wi-FI, CDMA, and HSPA technologies.

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