Apple has been a big target for VirnetX starting in 2012 when they sued them over VPN (virtual private network) patents in their FaceTime software. At the time they were forced to pay $368million in infringement damages but Apple appealed the case and won on a technicality. After the appeal the jury saw no direct linkage between Apple’s "infringed" FaceTime software and their sales of iPads/iPhones that used the software. But VirnetX didn't give up and came back harder this time around. They started out with the accusations of patents numbered 7,490,151 and 6,502,135 in which the court forced apple to pay an initial $335 million. However, after further investigation they concluded that patents numbered 7,921,211 and 7,418,504 were also being violated through Apple's FaceTime software and Apple was then forced to pay an additional $291 million in damages. Rounding out the total to a whopping $625 million from patent infringements. However, that money is just a drop in the bucket for Apple, a company who's last quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion. They could pay VirnetX this money and go about their days like nothing even happened. But Apple doesn't want to stand for these, amongst other, patent trolls anymore. They are going to appeal yet again under the claims that the four patents at stake have been declared invalid. They are doing this to make a statement that these companies are doing nothing but harm to the technology industry and must be stopped. Patent trolls are prohibiting and slowing down technological process through their stringent ideals and money driven mindset.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
VirnetX vs Apple: The Full Details
Like I stated before, VirnetX is what people call a Patent Troll, which by definition means "a person or company that attempts to
enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or contribution to the prior art. Patent
trolls often do not manufacture products or supply services based upon
the patents in question." Aka, a company that makes money just by suing other companies (like Apple, Microsoft, and Cisco) and honestly do nothing else besides that.
Apple has been a big target for VirnetX starting in 2012 when they sued them over VPN (virtual private network) patents in their FaceTime software. At the time they were forced to pay $368million in infringement damages but Apple appealed the case and won on a technicality. After the appeal the jury saw no direct linkage between Apple’s "infringed" FaceTime software and their sales of iPads/iPhones that used the software. But VirnetX didn't give up and came back harder this time around. They started out with the accusations of patents numbered 7,490,151 and 6,502,135 in which the court forced apple to pay an initial $335 million. However, after further investigation they concluded that patents numbered 7,921,211 and 7,418,504 were also being violated through Apple's FaceTime software and Apple was then forced to pay an additional $291 million in damages. Rounding out the total to a whopping $625 million from patent infringements. However, that money is just a drop in the bucket for Apple, a company who's last quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion. They could pay VirnetX this money and go about their days like nothing even happened. But Apple doesn't want to stand for these, amongst other, patent trolls anymore. They are going to appeal yet again under the claims that the four patents at stake have been declared invalid. They are doing this to make a statement that these companies are doing nothing but harm to the technology industry and must be stopped. Patent trolls are prohibiting and slowing down technological process through their stringent ideals and money driven mindset.
Apple has been a big target for VirnetX starting in 2012 when they sued them over VPN (virtual private network) patents in their FaceTime software. At the time they were forced to pay $368million in infringement damages but Apple appealed the case and won on a technicality. After the appeal the jury saw no direct linkage between Apple’s "infringed" FaceTime software and their sales of iPads/iPhones that used the software. But VirnetX didn't give up and came back harder this time around. They started out with the accusations of patents numbered 7,490,151 and 6,502,135 in which the court forced apple to pay an initial $335 million. However, after further investigation they concluded that patents numbered 7,921,211 and 7,418,504 were also being violated through Apple's FaceTime software and Apple was then forced to pay an additional $291 million in damages. Rounding out the total to a whopping $625 million from patent infringements. However, that money is just a drop in the bucket for Apple, a company who's last quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion. They could pay VirnetX this money and go about their days like nothing even happened. But Apple doesn't want to stand for these, amongst other, patent trolls anymore. They are going to appeal yet again under the claims that the four patents at stake have been declared invalid. They are doing this to make a statement that these companies are doing nothing but harm to the technology industry and must be stopped. Patent trolls are prohibiting and slowing down technological process through their stringent ideals and money driven mindset.
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Interesting post, Harley. I appreciate your explanation of a patent troll. It's baffling to think people actually set out to undermine other businesses based on things like this. I wonder how essential those patents are to VirnetX's business, and I'm also wondering how much they spend on lawsuits instead of R&D.
ReplyDeleteHi Harley,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and found it helpful that you included the spcific patent numbers. Your last few sentences were particularly interesting, as I agree with the fact that a successful appeal will serve as a statement to encourage innovation.
Hey Harley,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting summary of events. I like how you brought up the actual patents that Apple supposedly copied. I like how you brought up that VirnetX never planned to make the products they had patented. What do you think can be done about patent trolls?
Hi Harley,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your summary as I thought that it was helpful that you included the patent numbers. I also think that it it is very interesting that VirnetX is doing very well, just by being a patent troll. Do you think that the work that they do is ethical?
Daniella
Hey Harley!
ReplyDeleteI thought that the summary presentation worked really well (clearly, all the people above me did too). In any case, the pseudo-narrative presentation really made the post easy to follow and understand. Furthermore, I thought that the inclusion of the financial damage that each individual round of litigation garnered, was a really smart way to show the timeline. I look forward to reading your future posts!
Chris
Hey Harley,
ReplyDeleteI liked the summary of the cases and I really liked the pseudo-narrative tone that you chose to use. It really made the case easy to follow and understand. I liked how you also included the patent numbers. Looking forward to your next posts!
Best,
Shauray