Apple challenges $503m VirnetX award
Apple is fighting to overturn a $503 million damages award to VirnetX in a long-running patent dispute.
In October, a jury at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Apple should have to pay a royalty of $0.84 on nearly 600 million infringing units. VirnetX claims Apple products including FaceTime, VPN on Demand, and iMessage infringe two network security patents.
The decade-long case has already seen two retrials, and Apple now wants the court to order a new one, or cancel the damages award.
Apple has now told the court that the jury award “significantly overcompensates” VirnetX for the IP, as well as claiming that the patents are invalid.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cancelled claims of the allegedly infringed VirnetX patents in 2014, a decision VirnetX is appealing at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Apple claims there is no basis for compensating VirnetX for patent claims found to be invalid by the USPTO.
But VirnetX replied that Apple’s objections are based on “recycled” arguments already raised throughout the dispute.
Apple’s argument that “no reasonable jury” could award $503 million in VirnetX’s favour is “lacks all credibility given that Apple’s assessment of what ‘no reasonable jury’ could award has varied wildly over the course of the past several trials, despite nearly identical evidence,” VirnetX claimed.
VirnetX also argued that “unaffirmed” USPTO decisions on the validity of its patents should not be taken into account in the district court litigation, as they are still the subject of an appeal at the Federal Circuit.
The retrial over damages in the case was originally scheduled to be held in August but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delay resulted from a request made by Apple, at a time when the Eastern District included COVID-19 infection hotspots. VirnetX argued against the delay, claiming it was an example of “fearmongering”.
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