© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Apple Inc. brand is seen hanging on the entrance to the Apple retailer on fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar
By Blake Brittain
(Reuters) – Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) satisfied a U.S. appeals court docket on Thursday to uphold a patent tribunal’s ruling that would imperil a $502 million verdict for patent licensing firm VirnetX Inc within the firms’ long-running battle over privacy-software expertise.
The U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a choice from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Workplace that invalidated the 2 patents VirnetX had accused Apple of infringing.
Representatives for the businesses didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The 2 firms have waged a 13-year court docket battle that has included a number of trials and appeals. An East Texas jury awarded VirnetX $502 million in 2020 after deciding that Apple infringed the digital non-public community (VPN) patents at subject in Thursday’s resolution.
Apple has individually appealed the decision itself, however the Federal Circuit has but to rule in that case. The court docket heard mixed arguments in each instances in September, and each side stated upholding the choice to cancel the patents would additionally probably negate the jury award.
“If the court docket upholds the [USPTO’s] resolution, we’ve got an enormous downside,” VirnetX lawyer Jeff Lamken of MoloLamken stated on the September listening to. “I do not suppose we’ve got an enforceable judgment.”
The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed choices by the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Enchantment Board that the patents have been invalid in mild of earlier publications that described the identical innovations.
VirnetX individually received a $302 million verdict in opposition to Apple in an East Texas court docket in 2016, which was later elevated to $440 million, over associated allegations that the tech big used its internet-security expertise in options like FaceTime video calls.
