Caltech Sues Apple Over Wi-Fi Patents

Apple's mobile devices use several Wi-Fi protocols that are patented by Caltech without authorization, the California university alleged in a lawsuit filed today.

The protocols manage encoding and decoding circuitry to enable faster data transmission in the 802.11n and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standards, MacRumors reports.

Caltech also named Broadcom as a co-defendant in the suit, which was filed in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of California. Broadcom makes Wi-Fi chips, including a new 5G Wi-Fi chip for mobile devices that the company said delivers "unparalleled throughput, Bluetooth co-existence performance, and indoor location accuracy."

Apple is one of Broadcom's largest customers, according to the Caltech complaint, which covers Wi-Fi components in the iPhone 5 and above, iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad mini 2 and above, MacBook Air, and Apple Watch.

In the complaint, Caltech requested a jury trial and did not mention a proposed settlement amount, according to MacRumors.

Apple is no stranger to patent infringement lawsuits. A complaint filed earlier this year alleges that the haptic feedback features of the iPhone 6 and and Apple Watch violate the patents of Immersion, a California company that manufactures haptic feedback systems.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.