Virnetx

Appeals court tosses out VirnetX’s $368 million victory over Apple

Cody Lee ∙ September 16, 2014

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tossed out a verdict today handed down by a Texas jury in late 2012 that would've forced Apple to pay $368 million to patent holding firm VirnetX. The jury determined that Apple's FaceTime feature infringed on on the firm's intellectual property.

The Wall Street Journal reports this afternoon that the appeals court has ruled that the verdict was "tainted" by erroneous jury instructions in the case and therefore is invalid. It also held that some trial testimony from a VirnetX IP "expert" should have been completely excluded from the case.

Patent troll VirnetX could win 1% of iPhone and iPad revenues

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

In March, U.S. District Judge for Eastern Texas Leonard Davis awarded patent holding firm VirnetX with an ongoing 0.98% royalty on iPhone and iPad revenues. Apple has been fighting vigorously to avoid that outcome, but its last-ditch efforts have been unsuccessful. On Friday, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board denied a creative strategy that Apple used to challenge the patents…

Patent troll VirnetX expands patent suit against Apple

Cody Lee ∙ August 6, 2013

If you're not familiar with the name VirnetX, you should be. The Internet security software and technology company (also known as a patent troll) has filed a patent infringement suit against every major tech company in the business, including Apple.

In fact, last fall Apple was ordered to pay VirnetX a staggering $368 million after a Texas jury found the iPad-maker guilty of infringing on its IP. And the battle is far from over, as the security firm just announced that it's been awarded two new patents...

No iOS VPN changes on already shipped devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 26, 2013

On April 5, Apple acknowledged via a support document that it “will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later” due to a lawsuit by patent holding firm VirnetX file against Apple in November 2011. VPN technology, which stands for Virtual Private Networking, extends corporate networks securely across public networks like the Internet, allowing users to access a private network as if they were directly connected to it.

Apple originally planned to remove the 'Always' configuration option for VPN On Demand with the 'Establish if needed' option. The revised document specifically mentions Apple will not be changing the VPN behavior on "devices that have already been shipped"...

Upcoming firmware update to force VPN behavior changes over VirnetX patent loss

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

VirnetX, a patent holding firm with an impressive intellectual property portfolio, in November 2011 sued Apple over a breach of a collection of its network patents, originally seeking north of $900 million in damages. A year later, in November 2012, a federal jury in a Texas court ordered the iPhone maker to pay $368.2 million in damages.

The two parties later worked out a royalty agreement that should be decided upon on April 12, but as a result of the damages awarded to VirnetX, Apple today has acknowledged via a support document that it "will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later"...

Judge upholds $368 million VirnetX court victory over Apple

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 20, 2017

Last November, a federal jury ordered Apple to pay patent holding firm VirnetX $368 million in a patent lawsuit. The court found the iPad-maker guilty of infringing on its networking patents with its FaceTime video chat feature.

Today, Judge Leonard Davis upheld the ruling, denying Apple's request for a new trial. This means that it's about to have to dole out one of the largest court-mandated settlements in its history to, what is essentially, a patent troll...

Patent troll VirnetX adds latest iOS devices and Macs to Apple lawsuit

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Hot on the heels of the $368 million payout in the FaceTime suit, patent holding firm VirnetX is trolling Apple again, this time with claims that both the iPhone 5 and iPad mini infringe upon four patents. Both devices, along with the latest iPod and Macs, were added to the lawsuit. Just like the Facetime case could result in a ban of the iPhone 4S, this latest wrinkle might put sales of Apple's newest products in jeopardy ahead of the fast-approaching holiday season...