Apple has badly lost the lawsuit filed by VirnetX, as the company has been ordered to pay a total of $439.7 million to the patent troll.
The legal battle which started back in 2010 when VirnetX first sued Apple, appears to be drawing to a close, but Apple will likely launch one final attack to try to salvage the situations.
Apple Ordered To Pay $440 Million
A U.S. District Court judge in Texas entered the final judgment in the patent dispute between Apple and VirnetX, where the latter alleged that the former infringed patents related to its FaceTime and iMessage features. The judgment, filed last Sept. 29, orders Apple to pay $439.7 million to VirnetX.
A year ago, a federal jury in Texas ordered Apple to pay $302.4 million in damages to VirnetX. However, the case entered into another trial to determine if Apple showed willful infringement on the patents, which would possibly increase the amount that the company will pay.
According to the final judgment, Apple did show willful infringement, and was docked an additional $41 million in penalties. Apple was also ordered to pay for attorneys' fees and other costs, which amounted to $96 million, bringing the total amount from $302.4 million all the way up to $439.7 million.
Apple was previously ordered to pay an even higher amount in February 2016, when the damages were set at $625.6 million. The amount was one of the biggest awards for a patent dispute in the United States, but the judge handling the case moved for a retrial due to circumstances that may have led to an unfair trial against Apple.
Apple said that it is planning to appeal the decision. The company will likely not be able to overturn the ruling that hands the victory to VirnetX, but it might look to reduce the damages that it will have to pay.
Patent Troll Wins Against Apple
Patent trolls are companies that have no formal business aside from acquiring patents and then suing companies that infringe on them. For VirnetX, it was lucky enough to draw in a huge catch with Apple, and has even filed the case in Texas, where courts are known to favor patent trolls.
Damages of $439.7 million is not an amount that will send Apple crashing, but it will likely move to appeal the decision to fight back against the growing trend of patent trolls taking advantage of companies over the year. The patents held by VirnetX have also all been invalidated by the US Patent and Trademark Office, but until the patent troll has exhausted all possible appeals, Apple remains on the hook.
