Apple has been ordered by a federal jury in Eastern Texas to pay VirnetX, known widely as a patent troll, total amount of $502.6 million in damages. The legal fight started back in 2010 when VirnetX filed a lawsuit against Apple where it accused the iPhone maker for infringing on its intellectual properties. The patent troll claimed that FaceTime, iMessage and VPN on Demand violate four of its patents that are related to secure communications.
“The evidence was clear,” VirnetX chief Kendall Larsen said after the court’s decision was announced. “Tell the truth and you don’t have to worry about anything.”
Apple in its defense says that it has never wavered in its stance that it did nothing wrong despite having to go through a lot of bumps and hoops in court. The company was ordered to pay $625 million back in 2016, which federal Judge Robert Schroeder tossed out a few months later.
A few months later, a federal jury in Texas ordered Apple to pay up again, but this time in total amount of $302.4 million. Apple then pursued another appeal, but the company lost and has been ordered to pay $439.7 million in damages.
One of the main reasons why VirnetX has been successful this time around is because it filed the lawsuit in Eastern Texas, which is a region that’s notorious for ruling in favor of patent trolls. We don’t know if this decision will stick since the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has already invalidated the patents involved in this case far before the Texas court handed down the verdict. Apple will likely not give in a pay up, so the battle will likely not end here.
