Apple Ordered to Pay $368 Million in Patent Infringement
Orange County – A federal grand jury in Texas has awarded VirnetX Holding Corp. $368.2 Million in a patent infringement lawsuit with Apple Inc. The lawsuit against Apple Inc. was filed last year with the United States District Court in East Texas citing claims of infringement of four VirnetX patents by Apple’s popular Face Time application.
Apple’s Face Time application allows users to place video calls to other Apple devices that support the same feature.
The patents at issue are U.S. patent Nos. 6,502,135, 7,418,504, 7,921,211, and 7,490,151 which cover virtual private network technology.
The jury found that certain Apple products that support the Face Time communication feature, including iPhone 4, iPad 2, and iPod Touch, violate patents held by the Internet security software developer, headquartered in Nevada. In addition to the sizable monetary award, VirnetX was also seeking a court-ordered injunction against the infringing devices.
After the jury reached its decision, VirnetX filed an additional lawsuit against Apple for the alleged infringement by more recent versions of Apple products against the same patents. The iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad Mini, and all other Apple computers and hardware that use the Mountain Lion Operating System, were named in the latest complaint.
VirnetX currently has a pending complaint against Apple with the United States International Trade Commission over several versions of Apple products which it claims infringe on U.S. Patent No. 8,051,181, which covers software technology that creates a secure system for Internet communication.
As a result of this week’s jury verdict against Apple, VirnetX stock soared twenty-eight percent to $33.61 per share, its biggest jump since 2009. Stock shares with the company are reportedly up thirty-five percent this year amid investor speculation that the company will collect patent licensing fees from Apple and other technology giants. In 2010, VirnetX won a patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft over the same patents and currently has pending litigation against Cisco Systems, Inc. That trial is scheduled for March 2013.
Regarding the victory against Apple, VirnetX Chief Executive Officer Kendall Larsen stated, “This victory further establishes the importance of our patent portfolio.”