Apple is once again the target of a lawsuit from VirnetX concerning patents related to VPN and FaceTime technologies, Bloomberg reports. A lawyer for VirnetX told a federal jury in Texas earlier this week that Apple owes the company $532M for using the company’s patented secure communications technology.
Apple originally came under fire from VirnetX in 2012, when Apple was ordered to pay the Texas-based patent holding company $368.2M for infringing on VPN patents used in the company’s FaceTime and VPN On Demand services in iOS — a move that prompted Apple to change the way VPN On Demand works on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. An appeals court later dismissed the damage award against Apple and ordered a new trial for some of the infringement claims, which this new lawsuit covers, along with infringements based on newer generations of iOS devices.
An Apple lawyer stated that “Apple believes in fairness and protecting intellectual property,” adding however, that “VirnetX keeps moving the boundary, asking for more and more and more.”
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