24/7 Wall St.

A jury in Florida has reportedly awarded ParkerVision Inc. (NASDAQ: PRKR) $173 million in its patent infringement suit against Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM). ParkerVision had hoped for an award in the neighborhood of $430 million with a possible trebling of the award due to willfulness. The jury did not find willfulness on Qualcomm’s part which prevents the judge from awarding triple damages.

After a false alarm on Wednesday, shares were halted again on Thursday pending the jury’s verdict on the amount of damages. The jury ruled last week that Qualcomm had directly and indirectly infringed on ParkerVision patents related to capturing cell phone data at a user’s handset.

Shares were halted yesterday in anticipation of a verdict that never came and ParkerVision shares resumed trading this morning. The judge may triple whatever the jury awards, and estimates of the possible award range from a low of around $225 million to a high of $2 billion.

ParkerVision shares have about doubled including a drop of 15% Thursday. Shares posted a high of $7.78 before the share were halted on Wednesday.

The jury’s award will disappoint shareholders and today’s 15% drop will get larger once the trading halt is lifted. Shares were halted at $6.01 in a 52-week range of $1.52 to $7.78.