VirnetX is a notorious "patent troll" (a company that makes its money through patent lawsuits without intending to implement the business-side of the patents), that has sued Apple in the past and has done so successfully again for a whopping $625 million. This case was actually filed in 2012 and Apple was forced to pay $368 million in damages. But Apple appealed and the case was sent back down to a court in Eastern Texas, where the new jury actually concluded Apple owed even more than initially.
The lawsuit came down to these patents: Establishment of a secure communication link based on a domain name service (DNS) request US 7490151 B2, Agile network protocol for secure communications using secure domain names US 7418504 B2, Agile network protocol for secure communications with assured system availability US 6502135 B1, and Agile network protocol for secure communications using secure domain names US 7921211 B2. These patents are very technical and beyond the scope of this blog post, but they mostly revolve around Apple's VPN (Virtual Private Network) usage in the iPhone's iMessage and FaceTime services.
Interestingly, this lawsuit was filed in Eastern Texas to a court that is notoriously friendly to patent holders. While I believe VirnetX legally holds the rights to these patents, it's a little discomforting to see that they were sneaky about the lawsuit and tried to cheat the system.
https://youtu.be/dBiLbsJGjig
https://youtu.be/dBiLbsJGjig
Hi Shauray,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you mentioned that lawsuit was filed in a place that tended to favor the patent holders. This definitely complemented the idea that VirnetX is a patent troll. VirnetX's choice to go to a certain court makes me reconsider the justice system, which can be flawed at times.
Hi Shauray,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. I think it's definitely true that VirnetX was sneaky about the lawsuit by bringing it to a court in Eastern Texas that is notorious for being friendly to the "patent trolls." I think to make this post even better, I would also include Apple's response to the lawsuit and whether or not Apple think they infringed on the patent.
Once again, great post and I really enjoyed reading it.