Apple Wins Appeals Battle in Ongoing Patent Infringement War With VirnetX, Could Save $502.8 Million

[MacRumors]

Apple has been embroiled in a patent dispute with VirnetX for well over a decade, and the company today won an appeals verdict that could ultimately save it from having to pay VirnetX $502.8 million in patent infringement fees.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday confirmed a ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidating a pair of patents that VirnetX used in its patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, according to Reuters.

Apple in 2020 was ordered to pay VirnetX $503 million for infringing on VPN patents owned by VirnetX with the iPhone's VPN on demand feature. The two patents that have been invalidated were involved in that lawsuit, and now Apple might get the entire judgment vacated.

Apple appealed the $502.8 million award verdict after it was rendered, with both Apple and VirnetX presenting arguments in the appeal back in September. VirnetX attorney Jeff Lamken said at the time that if the court ultimately sided with the USPTO and invalidated the patents in the patent validity case, VirnetX could "have a big problem." He said that he did not think VirnetX would have an "enforceable judgment" in that situation, so this is potentially a major win for Apple.

With the patents now invalidated, VirnetX and Apple will again meet in court over the initial appeals case that Apple filed to determine whether Apple will need to pay up, and it's looking like the $502.8 million verdict will be thrown out.

Regardless of how this case plays out, Apple was forced to pay VirnetX $440 million for violating VirnetX's communications security patents with the FaceTime and iMessage features.

VirnetX is largely viewed a patent holding company or "patent troll" that does not offer actual products or services. It generates revenue by litigating technology companies that infringe on its patents, though it does also market its "War Room" software for authenticated meetings.

Article Link: Apple Wins Appeals Battle in Ongoing Patent Infringement War With VirnetX, Could Save $502.8 Million

 

[ct2k7]

VirtnetX stopped Apple from making FaceTime an open standard. I won’t forget.

 

[Realityck]

Wow, that’s good news. Just holding a patient doesn’t mean further scrutiny can’t make the outcome change.

 

[JM]

Now THIS is Apple News that can bring us all together like the good ol’ days.

😍

 

[roar08]

Remember, it ain't over 'til it's over.

 

[TVreporter]

Tim: You mean I reached in between the couch cushions for nothing!

 

[Naraxus]

Of course. Apple steals & deliberately infringes on other company's tech/ip and then has the complete nerve to play victim, refuses to pay what they should for said theft, and drags the company through the courts.

From XeroxPARC to this. Same as it ever was.

 

[CWallace]

XeroxPARC stole the mouse from Stanford and Xerox both invested in Apple at the time (20%) which allowed access to PARC and one of the stated reasons for that investment was the hope Apple could commercialize PARC technology.

And Apple was insured by Xerox, resulting in if PARC had sued Apple and won, Xerox would have paid their own award.

So PARC influenced the Macintosh, but it was certainly not direct IP infringement as it did not use PARC's code as the foundation and PARC might not even have patented any of it. The Macintosh GUI also had many features that PARC's GUI did not have, including drop-down menus and such.

 

[erikkfi]

Viral Network X.

 

[EmotionalSnow]

Of course. Apple steals & deliberately infringes on other company's tech/ip and then has the complete nerve to play victim, refuses to pay what they should for said theft, and drags the company through the courts.

From XeroxPARC to this. Same as it ever was.

Except that their patents are unenforceable and invalid. They were granted erroneously.

 

[Naraxus]

So PARC influenced the Macintosh in some ways, but it was certainly not direct IP infringement.

It certainly was infringement by Apple as Apple never got a licence for Xeorx's gui to begin with.

What Apple got a licence for was the purpose of implementing Smalltalk-80on hardware, not Project Star which is the basis of the modern gui/mouse etc

 

[CWallace]

It certainly was infringement by Apple as Apple never got a licence for Xeorx's gui to begin with.

Apple didn't need a license for it because they didn't use any of its code as the foundation for the first Mac OS. They took it as inspiration and modified it in many significant ways - ways that made it a better OS than the original Alto OS.

If you look at the Alto's OS and the first Macintosh's OS, the only thing they really share in common is both are in black and white.

 

[ronntaylor]

Of course. Apple steals & deliberately infringes on other company's tech/ip and then has the complete nerve to play victim, refuses to pay what they should for said theft, and drags the company through the courts.

From XeroxPARC to this. Same as it ever was.

Guess you didn't read the article:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Court on Thursday confirmed a ruling by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidating a pair of patents that VirnetX used in its patent infringement lawsuit against Apple...

 

[Kottu]

Thank god! Otherwise Apple would have charged us, the consumers $50 extra on next iPhone.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

It certainly was infringement by Apple as Apple never got a licence for Xeorx's gui to begin with.

What Apple got a licence for was the purpose of implementing Smalltalk-80on hardware, not Project Star which is the basis of the modern gui/mouse etc

But PARC was an open door store and MANY ideas they came up with were 'stolen' to create billion dollar companies. 3Com is one. There are many others.

I did get to see the 'first ever laser printer'. It was GIGANTIC!! Like almost three huge chest type freezers set end to end, and a bit wider/taller. And how many years until we had the Apple Laserwriter?

If Xerox wanted to sue every company that 'stole' their tech innovations, they would level the industry as we know it. PARC was basic research for research sake. If government actually funded basic research, there could be massive leaps and bounds due to that program. Research often isn't profitable, so it's almost literally pouring money down a hole, but when it hits, it often hits big.

And Star was a GIU, and Apple/steve had no access to the source code, but did see the operation. They programmed their Finder to be similar to Star, but different enough to avoid lawsuits anyway.

 

[Verified Whiskey]

VirtnetX stopped Apple from making FaceTime an open standard. I won’t forget.

Quoting you so this gets more attention.

 

[coolfactor]

Of course. Apple steals & deliberately infringes on other company's tech/ip and then has the complete nerve to play victim, refuses to pay what they should for said theft, and drags the company through the courts.

From XeroxPARC to this. Same as it ever was.

Why are you here if you continue to believe the nonsense dating back to the XeroxPARC days? That has been beaten to death.

Xerox PARC and the Origins of GUI

Graphical User Interface (GUI) is part of everyday laptop-and-phone life. But it has a surprising history, starting as a fringe early 70s NoCal idea.

crm.org

Before Xerox PARC researchers got to work in the 70s, the basic idea of GUI had been circulating for some time. Indeed, the idea of making computers more visual, more tactile, and more accessible was explored by several visionaries.

The idea of a GUI predated even Xerox PARC. They were just the first to implement the idea.

Nobody owns ideas.

 

[DaveN]

I remember when VirnetX had their office in a small strip mall in Marla Bay. Then they won the $400M part of the lawsuit and moved to the old TRPA building at Roundhill. As far as I know they never made anything.

 

[roar08]

Of course. Apple steals & deliberately infringes on other company's tech/ip and then has the complete nerve to play victim, refuses to pay what they should for said theft, and drags the company through the courts.

From XeroxPARC to this. Same as it ever was.

Xerox's VC group invested in Apple and invited them to visit PARC to see what they were working on. The history of those visits is not as nefarious as people want to believe. But, they do want to believe it. The dramatic retelling of a story is usually more exciting/interesting than the actual event.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Apple should have just bought them and put them to rest. This has been going on for too long now. I wasn’t even able
to grow a mustache when this started.

 

[klasma]

Thank god! Otherwise Apple would have charged us, the consumers $50 extra on next iPhone.

I was going to say they can revert the price hikes now.

 

[klasma]

VirtnetX stopped Apple from making FaceTime an open standard. I won’t forget.

Apple doesn't want to make iMessage an open standard, so I'm skeptical they would have for FaceTime. Certainly today's Apple wouldn't.

 

[GMShadow]

Apple didn't need a license for it because they didn't use any of its code as the foundation for the first Mac OS. They took it as inspiration and modified it in many significant ways - ways that made it a better OS than the original Alto OS.

If you look at the Alto's OS and the first Macintosh's OS, the only thing they really share in common is both are in black and white.

And in some cases implemented features they *thought* they saw in the Alto, but weren’t actually there.

 

[chabig]

It certainly was infringement by Apple as Apple never got a licence for Xeorx's gui to begin with.

I do not understand this comment at all. Apple never implemented Xerox’s STAR GUI. They invented their own, which was very different.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

I remember when VirnetX had their office in a small strip mall in Marla Bay. Then they won the $400M part of the lawsuit and moved to the old TRPA building at Roundhill. As far as I know they never made anything.

Honestly, the fact that they're based in Tahoe is kind of a dead giveaway. Not exactly a tech hub.