Bloomberg:
VirnetX Holding Corp. won $502.6 million against Apple Inc. after a federal jury in Texas said the maker of iPhones was infringing patents for secure communications, the latest twist in a dispute now in its eighth year.
VirnetX stock went up as much as 44% on the news, Apple stock not so much. Makes sense, since VernetX reported about $1 million in revenue last year, Apple a bit more than $200 billion.
The patents in question?
VirnetX claimed that Apple’s FaceTime, VPN on Demand and iMessage features infringe four patents related to secure communications, claims that Apple denied.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for Apple to write that check:
For VirnetX, the jury verdict in its favor could be a short-lived victory. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has said the patents are invalid, in cases that are currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.
Golly, how did I know this decision was handed down in East Texas, a favorite venue for patent trolls everywhere.
The FaceTime decision has always been particularly baffling — if you’re not in East Texas — since the “infringing” version of FaceTime was cobbled together from widely-used free and open IETF standard technologies being used in their intended manners, and most of which clearly predated VirnetX’s alleged “inventions”.
Good to see the patent appeals board is doing its job, albeit slowly.
Ugh, what a cesspool.
As a good Texan, I’m embarrassed whenever the East Texas court comes up in an article. I’m delighted as hell to hear that the patents under dispute are about to become invalid. Hopefully that’s one decision that won’t be reversed on appeal. I still think patent clerks should be subject to malpractice claims.