Texas court orders Apple to pay $625m in patent lawsuit

A Texas court has ruled that Apple infringed four patents owned by licensing company VirnetX and has ordered the technology company to pay $625 million in damages.

Yesterday, February 3, a jury at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Apple’s FaceTime, iMessage and VPN On Demand services infringed the patents.

All four patents cover an online secure communication network.

According to the final order, VirnetX proved through a “preponderance of evidence” that Apple was liable for infringement.

In total, the court awarded VirnetX $625.6 million in damages.

Jason Cassady, principal at Caldwell, Cassady & Curry and representing VirnetX, said: “We are thankful for the jurors’ hard work and attention in this case, and for reaching a just verdict. The jury saw what we have been saying all along: Apple has been infringing VirnetX’s patented technology.”

But the story may not end here.

Yesterday, February 3, Apple filed a motion requesting a new jury trial after it claimed VirnetX’s counsel made arguments that were intended to “confuse, mislead and inflame” the jury to “render a verdict not based on the record”.

“VirnetX’s closing was replete with misrepresentations of the record, assertions about the credibility of witnesses not grounded in the record, and similar misstatements,” Apple said.

Apple added that the licensing company’s lawyers' closing argument was “outside the record and inconsistent with the law”.