What you need to know
- VirtnetX has won another case against Apple for patent infringement.
- The company argued that its FaceTime feature infringed on its technology.
- Apple has been ordered to pay $502.8 million to the company.
Reported by Bloomberg, Apple has been ordered to pay VirnetX another $502.8 million for infringing on its patents. In a ruling by a jury in Tyler, Texas today, Apple was found guilty of infringing on VirnetX's technology that it developed for the United States Central Intelligence Agency with its FaceTime feature.
VirnetX had argued that it was entitled to more than $700 million, while Apple argued it should only pay about $113 million. The jury was tasked with deciding on how much VirnetX should receive, and it landed on $502.8 million.
In a statement, an Apple spokesperson said that the company would appeal the decision, pointing to the fact that the patents the case is based on were determined to be invalid by the patent office.
"We thank the jury for their time and appreciate their consideration but are disappointed with the verdict and plan to appeal. This case has been going on for over a decade, with patents that are unrelated to the core operations of our products and have been found to be invalid by the patent office. Cases like this only serve to stifle innovation and harm consumers."
Bloomberg reached out to VirnetX for a comment, but the company has not responded at the time of this article's publishing. This is not the first time that Apple has lost a case against the company. It has already paid out $454 million to VirnetX in the past after losing to them in court.
Apple previously paid VirnetX $454 million because of a verdict over earlier versions of the features. Apple has launched an aggressive campaign to invalidate VirnetX patents, but its victories at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office hadn't come in time to avoid its losses in district court.
You can read the full report about the case at Bloomberg.
