Apple pays $454m to VirnetX in patent infringement case

At least one of the patent cases between Apple and VirnetX now appears to be over

VirnetX, a security software and technology company that has also been described as a 'patent troll', says that it has finally received a payment of more than $454 million from Apple in one of its patent lawsuits with the technology giant.

In a brief statement, VirnetX said that Apple paid it a sum of $454,033,859.87 "representing the previously announced judgment with interest in the VirnetX Inc. v. Apple case, 6:10-cv-00417".

The iPhone maker's decision to finally make the payment comes just a few weeks after the US Supreme Court denied it leave to hear the company's latest appeal, which would have been Apple's last attempt to overturn the ruling.

Last month, a US Court of Appeals had also rejected Apple's request to rehear the case.

The legal fight between the two companies dates back to 2010, when VirnetX accused Apple of infringing on four patents with its VPN on Demand and FaceTime features. Those patents covered security communication technology, such as secure communications links and virtual private networks (VPN).

In 2016, a jury at the East Texas Federal District Court ruled that Apple had infringed on four patents owned by VirnetX, and that it should pay $625 million to VirnetX.

That ruling, however, was overturned by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ordering two retrials in the case.

In October 2016, a federal judge in Tyler, Texas, ordered Apple to pay $302.4m in damages for infringing VirnetX's patents used in FaceTime and iMessage apps. The damages award also included an amount Apple was asked to pay for the use of VirnetX technology in VPN on Demand.

In the second retrial, the amount was increased to $439.7 million, including interest and other costs.

Since then, Apple has appealed the verdict several times, but courts have continually ruled in favour of VirnetX.

This is just one of two cases that the two firms have been fighting since 2010. In the second case, Apple was ordered to pay $502 million, but the ruling was later sent back to the lower courts to determine a new figure for damages.

Apple, however, is not the only company that VirnetX has accused of infringing its patents. Microsoft agreed to pay $200m to VirnetX in 2010 to obtain a licence for two patents covering communicating over the internet.

That ruling came after a federal jury in the East Texas court ordered Microsoft to pay $105.75m to the company.

In 2013, VirnetX accused Microsoft of infringing its patents in the company's Skype service.