The Indians behind Apple's $862 million lawsuit

Zee Media Bureau

A US jury has found that the iPhone maker,  in many of its most popular devices has used technology owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's licensing arm without permission.

However, a report in the Times of India states that two Indian researchers Gurindar Sohi and T N Vijaykumar are entral to the patent lawsuit that may bring hefty damages to the California-based Apple.

Apple may face up to $862 million in damages. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) sued Apple in January 2014 alleging infringement of its 1998 patent for improving chip efficiency.

The notice reads, “The patent-in-suit is United States Patent No. 5,781,752 (the “’752 patent”), entitled “Table Based Data Speculation Circuit for Parallel Processing Computer” to Andreas Moshovos, Scott Breach, Terani Vijaykumar, and Gurindar Sohi. The inventors are leading researchers in the field of computer microprocessor architecture. Their work at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, particularly the work for which they were awarded the patent-in-suit, has significantly improved the efficiency and performance of contemporary computer processors. This work has been recognized as a major milestone in the field of computer microprocessor architecture/design.”

“Indeed, Dr. Sohi, the leader of the lab that developed the ’752 patent, has  been elected to the National Academy of Engineering based on his work in the field of computer architecture. And in 2011 he received the computer architecture community’s most prestigious award, the Eckert-Mauchly Award, also based on his work, including specifically the work in the ’752 patent,” it further states.

The jury was considering whether Apple's A7, A8 and A8X processors, found in the  iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and iPad Mini with Retina display.