Apple to appeal $625m ruling over patent

Apple must pay VirnetX Holding Corp more than $625m (€558m) for using the patent licencing company’s Internet security technology without permission in its FaceTime and iMessage features, a federal jury in Texas said.

The award was more than the $532m VirnetX had sought before the trial began on January 25 in Tyler, Texas. The jury said Apple’s infringement was willful.

The verdict, though a blow for Apple, does not pose a threat to the company, which reported in January that its cash pile had reached $216bn.

Still, the amount is high for a patent case.

Apple issued a statement vowing to appeal. “We are surprised and disappointed by the verdict,” the company said.

“Cases like this simply reinforce the desperate need for patent reform.”

Apple has filed court papers asking US District Judge Robert Schroeder to declare a mistrial, saying VirnetX’s attorneys had misled the jury during closing arguments. It is not known when Schroeder will rule on that request.

“The jury saw what we have been saying all along: Apple has been infringing VirnetX’s patented technology for years,” VirnetX lawyer Jason Cassady said.

VirnetX, a Nevada-based company that derives most of its revenue from licensing patents, first sued Apple in 2010 over the iPhone maker’s use of secure networks, known as virtual private networks, and secure communications links in Apple’s FaceTime video conferencing application.

It was the second time VirnetX and Apple battled in court. In November 2012, a jury found Apple infringed four VirnetX patents with its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad products, as well as with its Mac computers, awarding $368.2m in damages.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the nation’s top patent court in Washington, DC, partly overturned that verdict, saying there were problems with how the trial judge instructed jurors.

The retrial also incorporated claims from a second lawsuit VirnetX filed against Apple in 2012.