U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear VirnetX Patent Case, Saving Apple $503 Million

The United States Supreme Court today said that it will not hear the VirnetX vs. Apple patent case, putting an end to a 14-year-long legal battle and ultimately saving Apple $502.8 million.

virnetx apple
As noted by CNBC, with the Supreme Court not weighing in, a March 2023 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will stand, so Apple will not have to pay the damages that VirnetX won in 2020.

VirnetX won a successful jury trial against Apple in 2020 and Apple was found to have violated VirnetX patents with its iPhone VPN on demand feature. The two patents cited in the case were later invalidated in a separate ruling from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

After Apple appealed the initial 2020 ruling, it was able to point to the invalidation of the patents and get the initial award vacated by the federal appeals court. VirnetX attempted to escalate the patent invalidation case to the Supreme Court, but has been denied.

VirnetX is viewed as a patent holding company or "patent troll" that does not offer actual products or services. It generates revenue by suing technology companies that infringe on or license its patents.

While Apple will not have to pay the $503 million from this particular trial, Apple did have to shell out $440 million in 2019 for violating VirnetX's communications security patents with FaceTime and iMessage.

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Top Rated Comments

ScreenSavers Avatar
9 months ago
What a pointless company. Honestly.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
9 months ago
Scumbags, too bad Apple can't counter sue for their legal fees, $440 million sounds about right to me. ;)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
9 months ago
Well, good that the SCOTUS didn’t want to hear this, there are far more important things…
Patent law needs to be revisited…
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Harry Haller Avatar
9 months ago
Win some, lose some.
Lawyers always win.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
squirrellydw Avatar
9 months ago
Still can’t believe we allow patent trolls.

If anyone is interested in a good documentary watch this

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6567002/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0339327 Avatar
9 months ago
And again, we demonstrate how flawed patent law is. I don’t know, nor care, about the specifics; the point is that both companies likely spent millions fighting this.

We need to find a way to make patent litigation affordable which means making it fast and efficient. When patent litigation costs millions, only the big guys win.

Again, I’m not advocating for either side here, I’m advocating against the current system.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)