The Largest Patent Verdict Of 2012 Went To A Pittsburgh University - Not Apple

Wikimedia Commons Carnegie Mellon University

In August, Apple won a massive $1.05 billion jury verdict in its epic smartphone fight with Samsung.

A judge recently said that damages amount was way too high, but it turns out the $1.05 billion award wasn't even the most massive patent verdict of 2012. (It was the second largest.)

The biggest patent verdict went to Pittsburgh, Penn.'s Carnegie Mellon University, which won a $1.17 billion award in its patent infringement suit against Marvell Technology Group Ltd., The National Law Journal reports.

CMU sued Marvell in 2009, saying that the tech company infringed two computer chips the university had developed, according to NLJ.

The Pittsburgh university is just one of many prestigious academic institutions to hold valuable intellectual property assets.

Stanford, University of Texas, and the University of Michigan are other top patent holders.