Apple has asked a U.S. District judge to reduce the amount in damages it is required to pay patent troll VirnetX over a patent infringement lawsuit and argues that new claims would mean the company would be required to pay over $1 billion.
Apple vs. VirnetX has been a prolonged court battle that started in 2010 when the software company accused Apple’s FaceTime feature of infringing on its patents. There have been 2 cases of VirnetX that Apple has been fighting up until 2020.
Apple’s challenges VirnetX patent bill that could cost more than $1 billion
Apple lost a case to VirnetX in March which required the company to pay $454 million over patent infringements, and then the second case in October over patents concerning FaceTime and the use of VPN on Demand in iOS, which VirnetX says violates patents it holds for the technology.
Recently, Apple asked U.S. Direct Judge Robert W. Schroeder III to reduce the amount it is required to pay. The company’s request came during a video hearing in which VirnetX lawyers asked the court to add on at least $116 million in interest in addition to the $503 million Apple is required to pay the company.
From Bloomberg:
“Apple Inc. said its financial penalty for infringing VirnetX Holdings Corp. patents could swell to more than $1 billion if a federal judge in Texas grants requests for additional interest and royalty payments on top of what juries in two separate cases have ordered the iPhone maker to pay.
VirnetX has asked U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III on to tack at least $116 million in interest onto the $503 million jurors awarded in October after concluding Apple infringed two patents related to secure communications in several iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch models.”
The software company also wants 84 cents per infringing unit in royalties for any device sold in the future. That figure was previously decided by jury trial, but VirnetX wants it to also apply to any future infringing Apple products, whether or not they were specified in the case.
Apple made an attempt to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal, but the Supreme Court declined to mediate in February 2020. The tech giant also claimed that many key parts of the patents concerned in this case were canceled by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The courts overturned that cancelation, ordering Apple to pay the damages.
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