Australian scientific research body CSIRO has earned €123 million so far from its Wi-Fi patent battles, the group has revealed.
CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) was awarded a patent in 1996 for the 802.11a standard, which the group said is now used in more than 800 million devices.
The company fought the case in court for years, initiating legal action against computing and networking heavyweights such as Intel, Microsoft, Dell and Belkin.
CSIRO won a landmark patent case against these companies and 10 others in April, and has since collected over A$200 million in IP fees.
The patent revolves around directing Wi-Fi radio waves to signal receiving devices via a dedicated chip.
The scientific, commercial and legal teams responsible for the patent were this week awarded the CSIRO's highest honor, the Chairman's Medal for Research Achievement.
“CSIRO’s solution to the ‘multipath problem’ ranks as one of the most significant achievements in [our] 82-year history,” CSIRO chairman John Stocker said.