Supreme Court Rejects Apple Appeal In Patent Fight With VirnetX

[SaM]

New submitter John Trumpian shares a report from Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear Apple’s bid to avoid paying about $440 million in damages for using patent licensing firm VirnetX’s internet security technology without permission in features such as FaceTime video calling. The justices rejected Apple’s appeal in the long-running case in which a federal jury in 2016 found that Apple had infringed VirnetX’s patents and awarded $302 million. A judge later increased that amount to $439.7 million including interest and other costs.

The case dates back to 2010 when Nevada-based VirnetX filed suit in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas accusing Cupertino, California-based Apple of infringing four patents for secure networks, known as virtual private networks, and secure communications links. VirnetX said Apple infringed with its FaceTime and VPN on Demand features in products such as the iPhone and iPad. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, which specializes in patent disputes, upheld the judgment against Apple last year.