US court orders Apple to pay $503 million to VirnetX in patent case
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A US jury has ordered Apple to pay $503 million for infringing virtual private network(VPN) technology patented by software security firm VirnetX.
The legal case involved data transmission security in devices of Apple devices in iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Nevada based VirnetX had alleged that Apple used its patented technology for its products. Apple had challenged the VirnetX patent. Cases like this only serve to stifle innovation and harm consumers," Apple said.
The two companies have been involved in the case for the past 10 years. VirnetX had told the court that VPN on Demand and Apple’s FaceTime were using its patent and had demanded $700 million.
An Apple spokesperson said: “We thank the jury for their time and appreciate their consideration but are disappointed with the verdict and plan to appeal, adding,"with patents that are unrelated to the core operations of our products and have been found to be invalid by the patent office."
After the verdict, VirnetX stocks soared even as Apple closed day almost unchanged.
Apple shares had fallen nearly 5 per cent in premarket trading on Thursday after it reported a steep fall in iPhone sales in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, other tech giants Facebook, Amazon and Google's Alphabet showed strong profit even as US authorities have filed an antitrust complaint against Google and are reportedly considering action against Facebook.
"Even the strongest free expression advocates don't think you should be able to yell 'Fire' in a crowded theatre," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said, adding,"Our policies try to balance free expression and safety as well."
A US jury has ordered Apple to pay $503 million for infringing virtual private network(VPN) technology patented by software security firm VirnetX.
The legal case involved data transmission security in devices of Apple devices in iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Nevada based VirnetX had alleged that Apple used its patented technology for its products. Apple had challenged the VirnetX patent. Cases like this only serve to stifle innovation and harm consumers," Apple said.
The two companies have been involved in the case for the past 10 years. VirnetX had told the court that VPN on Demand and Apple’s FaceTime were using its patent and had demanded $700 million.
An Apple spokesperson said: “We thank the jury for their time and appreciate their consideration but are disappointed with the verdict and plan to appeal, adding,"with patents that are unrelated to the core operations of our products and have been found to be invalid by the patent office."
After the verdict, VirnetX stocks soared even as Apple closed day almost unchanged.
Apple shares had fallen nearly 5 per cent in premarket trading on Thursday after it reported a steep fall in iPhone sales in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, other tech giants Facebook, Amazon and Google's Alphabet showed strong profit even as US authorities have filed an antitrust complaint against Google and are reportedly considering action against Facebook.
"Even the strongest free expression advocates don't think you should be able to yell 'Fire' in a crowded theatre," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said, adding,"Our policies try to balance free expression and safety as well."