U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Apple's Appeal in $440 Million VirnetX Patent Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear Apple's appeal of a $440 million judgment in one of the patent infringement cases brought by VirnetX a decade ago, reports Reuters.

virnetx apple
VirnetX was originally awarded $302 million back in October 2016 in the dispute over VPN-related patents, but Apple appealed the ruling multiple times, and with interest and other costs tacked on, the judgment was later increased to $440 million.

Apple argued on appeal that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had canceled "key parts" of several of the patents involved in the case, but the courts rescinded that cancelation. Apple continued to appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court, but the court has opted not to intervene, leaving Apple on the hook for the $440 million judgment.

The case is one of two Apple has been embroiled in with VirnetX over the years. In the other case, VirnetX was initially awarded $502 million but the infringement ruling was partially overturned late last year and the case was sent back a lower court to determine a new amount for damages. Apple attempted to contest the validity of the remaining two patents at issue, but just two weeks ago, the court denied a rehearing on that aspect of the case.

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Top Rated Comments

Freida Avatar
70 months ago
or not? Why do you assume Apple is in the right? We know from the past that Apple steals stuff so they should get punished.
Just because you are Apple doesn't mean you can get away with it.



This is what a broken patent system looks like. Patent trolls getting money like this...
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
70 months ago

This is what a broken patent system looks like. Patent trolls getting money like this...
A jury and judges at multiple levels decided that VirnetX is entitled to win. Unless you sat through the trial and read the briefs, how do you know they are wrong?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
osx86 Avatar
70 months ago
This is what a broken patent system looks like. Patent trolls getting money like this...
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JonGarrett Avatar
70 months ago

This is what a broken patent system looks like. Patent trolls getting money like this...
A broken system is when someone's IP gets used without permission and without compensation.

Apple does this quite often, way too often for all the other parties to be labeled as patent trolls.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
70 months ago
You live by rounded-corner patents, you die by rounded-corner patents.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
edgonzalez32 Avatar
70 months ago
Everyone sitting here poking fun at VirnetX yet I haven't seen one reason why they shouldn't be entitled to win. Any of you care to share some knowledge that you seem to have?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)