The eight-year-old (so far) legal battle between Apple and VirnetX has taken a brand new flip once a Lone-Star State court ordered the iPhone maker to pay $502.6 million to the corporate. Bloomberg reports that a jury found Apple guilty of infringing on patents regarding secure communications.
While VirnetX will produce some product admire a “secure mail and electronic communication system known as the archangel Collaboration Suite,” their business model principally involves filing patents within the hope of obtaining massive corporations to license its technology, or, more often, suing them in infringement lawsuits. the corporate is what is illustrious at intervals the trade as a ‘patent troll.’
VirnetX has been gunning for Apple since 2010 once it filed 3 lawsuits alleging that its FaceTime, VPN on Demand and iMessage options infringed on closely-held patents. Since that point, there are varied trials and appeals.
Apple was ordered to pay VirnetX $625.6 million in early 2016—the results of 2 of the lawsuits begin combined. however a decide invalid the ruling many months later. He aforesaid combining the 2 cases created the "potential for juryman confusion,” and ordered 2 new trials to influence the claims on an individual basis.
In October 2017, Apple was ordered to pay VirnetX $440 million, that it appealed. the most recent ruling has seen VirnetX’s stock rise the maximum amount as forty four p.c, tho' it had very little impact on Apple’s share value. Edward Calvin Kendall Larsen, chief executive officer of VirnetX, aforesaid the damages were "fair,” however the choice may not stand. The Patent Trial and appeals board dominated the patents invalid in 2016. “The Federal Circuit, that handles all patent appeals, declined to place this trial on hold, oral communication it absolutely was thus far on that a finding of fact would precede a final validity call,” writes Bloomberg.
Back in 2010, Microsoft united to pay $200 million to VirnetX to settle a patent dispute. Later, the Redmond firm paid another $23 million for updated product