
Apple found themselves on the wrong side of a $368 million damages claim today.
A Texas court ordered Apple to pay $368.2 million in damages to patent holding and security software company VirnetX today. VirnetX filed suit against Apple for violating network patents the company holds and originally asked for $900 million in damages.
VirnetX is a bonafide patent troll. The company has a history of suing major tech companies for patent infringement. VirnetX originally patented technologies used in creating virtual private networks over the Internet. VirnetX, being the first one to the trough leveraged their patents against companies like Microsoft ($200 settlement) and now other companies like Avaya, Cisco, and Apple are dealing with lawsuits.
VirnetX isn’t just satisfied with their latest win against Apple. VirnetX is leveraging a similar patent in a U.S. International Trade Commission investigation that if ruled against Apple would prevent Apple from importing their devices to the U.S. Obviously VirnetX would rather Apple settle out of court than the ITC ban their products as the later decision doesn’t line VirnetX’s pockets.
Source: CNET



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