QH shares surge 29% after sub awarded $145.1M from apple
OTTAWA - Quarterhill Inc. stock surged by nearly a third a day after its subsidiary WiLAN Inc. was awarded $145.1-million in damages in a patent infringement case against Apple Inc. The Ottawa-based technology company's shares were up 41 cents, or 29.5 per cent, to $1.80 in early afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock movement comes after a California jury found that versions of Apple's iPhone infringed on two WiLAN patents relating to wireless communications technology, the tech intellectual property company said in a statement. This is not the first legal spat between WiLAN and Apple. In 2013, a U.S. jury ruled in Apple's favour in a case in which WiLAN had sought $248-million in damages. Initially a producer of broadband wireless technologies, WiLAN now licenses an extensive patent portfolio. WiLAN changed its name to Quarterhill last year as part of a change in strategy to transition to a diversified investment holding company.