Judge awards CMU $1.54B in Marvell patent dispute

NEW YORK (AP) -- A court has awarded Carnegie Mellon University $1.54 billion in a patent dispute with chip maker Marvell Technology.

The award is less than Carnegie Mellon sought, however, and Marvell's shares rose 54 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $16.29 in afternoon trading.

Judge Nora Fisher ruled that Carnegie Mellon is entitled to interest and royalty payments on sales of the chips. But Marvell said she rejected the university's request for an injunction to stop Marvell from selling the chips and rejected the university's request for $326 million in pre-judgment interest.

The company said it will appeal the ruling as soon as a final judgment is entered.

The Pittsburgh university argued Marvell Technology Group Ltd. infringed on 1998 patents covering chips manufactured for computer hard drives. The patents came from the work of Professor Jose Moura and then-student Alek Kavcic. Marvell said it used its own technology to develop the chips and said it does not believe the patents are valid.

In December 2012 a federal jury ruled that Marvell willfully violated patents belonging to Carnegie Mellon. The university wanted a judge to triple the award.