It’s been over a decade since VirnetX – known as a patent troll – started a number of lawsuits against Apple. Now after 13 years, it appears the battle between the two companies is over as the Supreme Court has denied a bid by VirnetX to revive a $503 million patent case.
It’s been a long road between VirnetX and Apple. The former filed one of its first lawsuits against the iPhone maker back in 2012. And after nine years of litigation, Apple paid a $454 million settlement in 2020.
However, there was another set of charges related to FaceTime, VPN, and iMessage patents that VirnetX claimed Apple was guilty of infringing.
A jury in East Texas awarded VirnetX $502 million in damages for that lawsuit in 2018, but Apple immediately appealed the ruling in the Federal Circuit.
In March 2023, Apple was awarded a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that VirnetX’s second set of patent claims were invalid.
However, VirnetX then appealed to the Supreme Court to hear the case.
Fast forward to today, the Supreme Court announced it is declining to hear the $503 million case (via CNBC). That means the Federal Circuit decision ruled in favor of Apple stands.
President Biden’s representatives from the Patent Office also sided with Apple on the matter, urging “the justices to reject the case.”
VirnetX complained “that former patent office interim director Drew Hirshfeld, who presided before Vidal was appointed, exceeded his authority by denying VirnetX’s requests for director review of the decisions.”
For its part, Apple argued that VirnetX’s “arguments were not supported by applicable federal law.”
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