Apple Secures Win Against Patent Troll Worth $502 Million

This patent dispute has been going on for a few years and has still not been resolved with the judgment that has now been announced: Apple has won an appeal against the patent administrator VirnetX, which has become known as the patent troll.

This is reported by the Reuters news agency. For Apple, winning the appeal could mean that the company can save more than half a billion dollars, which is how much Apple would otherwise have had to pay VirnetX.

Patents in question

Apple has been fighting VirnetX in court for more than a decade. It’s about patents held by VirnetX, but not recognized by Apple – and other big names in the tech industry. Now the US Circuit Court of Appeals has awarded Apple another victory in the recent skirmish over those patents in question.

FaceTime, VPN, and iMessage services affected

VirnetX started the legal dispute in 2010. At that time, a lawsuit was filed alleging that Apple violated numerous VirnetX patents related to FaceTime, VPN, and iMessage services. A Texas court then fined Apple $368 million for patent infringement in 2012. However, the verdict was overturned almost two years later. It’s basically been like this for years.

In the most recent appeal, Apple convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to invalidate two patents. As reported by Reuters, this confirms a decision by the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board. That could overturn the $502 million fine that Apple was sentenced to pay in 2020. The company has separately appealed that ruling, but the Federal Circuit has yet to decide the case. When that will happen is still unknown.

“If the court upholds [the USPTO]’s decision, we have a big problem,” VirnetX attorney Jeff Lamken of MoloLamken said at the September hearing. “I don’t think we have an enforceable judgment.”