A federal jury on Wednesday ordered Marvell Technology Group Ltd. to pay $1.17 billion in damages in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Carnegie Mellon University, court records show.
Marvell was accused of infringing patents for technology to increase the accuracy with which hard disk drive circuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks, lawyers for Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon said.
The damages award was detailed in a verdict form made public in U.S. district court in Pittsburgh.
The verdict included a finding that the infringement was willful, which could let the trial judge award triple damages, Carnegie Mellon lawyers said.
Marvell could not immediately be reached for comment. Its shares fell after the verdict was announced Wednesday. In late Nasdaq trading the shares were down 89 cents, or 11 percent, at $7.36.
© 2013 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.