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Apple ( AAPL ) must pay more than $625 million in a patent dispute, as deemed by a federal jury in Texas on Wednesday, Reuters reported in the late afternoon. The consumer electronics giant was found to have used patent holder VirnetX Holding ‘s ( VHC ) Internet security technology without its OK, in Apple’s FaceTime and iMessage features, the report said. Some of the intellectual property has to do with VPNs, or virtual private networking. VirnetX stock shot up more than 89% after hours, after vaulting 29.8% in Wednesday’s regular session, to 4.79. Apple stock slipped 0.5% after hours, following a 2% rise during a trading day in which it regained the title of biggest stock in market cap from Google-owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ). The case (VirnetX Inc., et al. v. Apple Inc., No. 6:12-cv-00855) is a retrial on some issues thrown out by an appeals court after Nevada-based VirnetX won a $368.2 million verdict vs. Apple, and also includes some newer-generation Apple products, according to a Bloomberg report on the case last month. The verdict was announced before Judge Robert Schroeder in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in Tyler. It “ includes royalties awarded to Virnet based on an earlier patent infringement finding against Apple that (law firm) Caldwell Cassady & Curry also won for VirnetX,” the Dallas law firm said in a press release Wednesday evening. “The jury found that Apple’s modified VPN On Demand, iMessage and FaceTime services infringed VirnetX’s patents and that Apple’s infringement was willful,” it said in the release, adding that the award reflects Apple’s continuing use of the patents, as well as the royalties. The Eastern District of Texas is a hotbed for patent litigation. A report out last month from patent risk solutions firm RPX described how many patent holders flocked to the district in 2015: “The Eastern District of Texas, long thought to be the most plaintiff-friendly litigation venue , remains by far the district of choice for NPEs (non-practicing entities) to bring suit,” it said. “In fact, its popularity grew in the last two years.” Patent holders who aren’t outright technology developers are called NPEs, or non-practicing entities. VirnetX, however, describes itself as a company “developing and commercializing software and technology solutions for securing real-time communications over the Internet.” Scalper1 News
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