Apple's patent saga continues after a Texas jury has ruled that it has infringed upon two licenses used in its FaceTime video chat app and its iOS VPN service. The tech giant was ordered to grant VirnetX, the security software company that owns the said patents, a $302.4 million fine.
VirnetX, which grants licenses to patented technology for virtual private networks, first filed the suit in 2010. This was combined with another lawsuit in 2013, where a verdict was reached, ordering Apple to pay VirnetX $625.6 million, but was later voided by another judge. The two cases were then tried separately.
The latest decision on Friday night voided Apple's appeal. According to TechCrunch, VirnetX has also filed a second lawsuit involving newer security features that is pending trial.
The legal battle between Apple and VirnetX has been going on for years and earned VirnetX the label "patent troll", as the company is said to "market no products or services and makes its money entirely through licensing patents and suing anyone that infringes them".
The East Texas court where the lawsuit was filed was known to return a favorable verdict to anyone suing for alleged infringement, especially when citing the case of Alice, a 2014 suit filed by CLS Bank International vs. Alice Corp. The case decided that software patents are abstract ideas and do not qualify as patentable subject matter.
"While each challenged patent claim is different, the overall trend suggests judges in the Eastern District of Texas are applying Alice in a way that is far more favorable to patent owners," wrote lawyer David Nazer in a study.
VirnetX, a small firm based in Nevada, has taken on patent suits against Siemens, Avaya and Cisco in what seems like a David vs. Goliath clash. In 2014, it accepted a $24-million settlement from Microsoft over a suit involving Skype.
Both Apple and VirnetX have yet to comment on this latest development.
