Apple Loses Patent Retrial To VirnetX, Owes $302.4 Million (reuters.com) 64
Slashdot reader chasm22 quotes Reuters:
A federal jury in Texas on Friday night ordered Apple Inc to pay more than $302 million in damages for using VirnetX Holding Corp's patented internet security technology without permission in features including its FaceTime video conferencing application. The verdict came in a new trial in Tyler, Texas that had been ordered by the judge in the case, Robert Schroeder, who last August threw out VirnetX's $625.6 million win over Apple from a previous trial because he said jurors in that case may have been confused...
A jury in 2012 awarded $368.2 million in damages, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., partly overturned that verdict, saying there were problems with how the trial judge instructed jurors on calculating damages. On remand, VirnetX's two suits were combined, and in February, a jury returned with an even bigger verdict, $625.6 million, one of the highest ever in a U.S. patent case... However, Schroeder later voided the result, saying that the repeated references to the earlier case could have confused jurors and were unfair to Apple... Apple will also have to contend with the trial in a second lawsuit VirnetX filed against Apple over newer versions of Apple security features, as well as its iMessage application.
The article points out that "Many patent cases are handled in the Texas court, which has a reputation for awarding favorable verdicts to plaintiffs alleging infringement."
A jury in 2012 awarded $368.2 million in damages, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., partly overturned that verdict, saying there were problems with how the trial judge instructed jurors on calculating damages. On remand, VirnetX's two suits were combined, and in February, a jury returned with an even bigger verdict, $625.6 million, one of the highest ever in a U.S. patent case... However, Schroeder later voided the result, saying that the repeated references to the earlier case could have confused jurors and were unfair to Apple... Apple will also have to contend with the trial in a second lawsuit VirnetX filed against Apple over newer versions of Apple security features, as well as its iMessage application.
The article points out that "Many patent cases are handled in the Texas court, which has a reputation for awarding favorable verdicts to plaintiffs alleging infringement."
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Irony
Live by the sword, reap what you die by the soweth.
rounded corners bites back!
somebody should patent rounded corners that bites.
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But it's OK. Apple make this money back in about an hour.
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Samsung didn't admit Jack. As for the phones before the iPhone, well, the LG Prada was the first phone with a capacitive screen. So, Apple really copied LG. But it's OK, LG ain't going to sue Apple's ass.
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Wankery (Score:2)
If Apple was a patent troll, you'd hear about them suing other companies on an hourly basis, not every few years. You do know that Samsung sued Apple as well, right? Right?
Re: Wankery (Score:1)
Someone else knows how to do *things* - I demand to be compensated!
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http://arstechnica.com/tech-po... [arstechnica.com]
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They're more than a patent troll: they're the intelligence community's patent troll. It was founded by SAIC people, and its patents are for things that the government would not like citizens or companies to have, like direct-connect encrypted chats that make it harder to log and listen in. VirnetX is basically a CIA/NSA/GHCQ/etc front company that uses patents to keep good, safe communications out of the hands of ordinary people.
Look at who they sue. Apple, Microsoft, Cisco. VirnetX is using patents to keep major players from providing good, easy-to-use communications solutions that would be hard for the government to tap and break.
Well, that explains how they won the retrial.
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This is a real patent and Apple was aware of it. They just assumed they could crush the patent holder and get away with it if it went to court because they have deeper pockets. This isn't a unique situation; Nintendo also does that frequently, and Microsoft used to.
After the whole Samsung debacle Apple can hardly play the offended virgin about patents. It's like politicians who ask for a different electoral process when they,re afraid to lose an election but say nothing when they win (ex: Obama).
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If you want to continue your "real patent" defense, you might want to consider that this technical audience is very interested in what novel technique is actually being litigated over. The fact that no details seem quickly apparent suggests it is likely some one-click-purchasing bullshit
Dude are you for real? Next time you want to play the "this is a tech crowd don't bullshit us" card, make sure your question can't be answered with a simple fucking google search.
There's already hints in the article about VPN and DNS security, and if that's not enough any retard with internet access can find out more easily.
But of course you have done none of that. It's easier to post your lame accusations based on the fact that "no details seem quickly apparent". I've heard more convincing arguments from t
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Then do like normal people and blame the editors.
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I've concluded that abolishing parents is the only way to truly solve the problem.
Then you'd be back to trade secrets, or possibly {big evil corp} stealing {little guy}'s idea and profiting off it before {little guy} could.
The point of patents was to promote sharing information in exchange for temporary exclusivity. However, over time, Corporations have forgotten about that "temporary" part. That's the part that needs changing
Light on tech details as usual (Score:4, Informative)
From what is there, this looks like a pretty reasonable verdict. Apple infringed on four patents held by the plaintiff and got their heads handed to them.
May very well be one of those cases where the patent system works correctly. Given Apples past bad actions it's a shame the original verdict wasn't upheld
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Darl? Still butt hurt?
You know SCO never owned what they claimed to own. Settled case. Now fuckoff and die Darl.
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> Linux infringed upon SCO's intellectual property rights, too.
Exactly _which_ imaginary property was that?
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302 million for Apple is like me reaching in my pants pocket and pulling out $1.55 in change.
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Some of us wear overalls.
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So ?
For the sake of argument lets say you come up with a new encryption system
You can raise the cash to get a patent on the technique and all the obvious related patents, so you actually have a strong lock on your invention.
Now you are 20-50 grand in the hole and you need someway to make money off of it.
What do you do ?
Well you can start writing new encryption libraries and hope you can sell the tools for a reasonable amount, problem you are already in the hole and this will put you further in.
Or you can s
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Non practicing entities can be good for the non practicing inventor.
Re: Appeal! (Score:1)
No, it's until the innocent but poor guy runs out of money or gives up before trial due to the disparity between the ideal of justice and the available outcomes.
One thing makes this totally suspect (Score:3, Informative)
But this smells, isn't this being adjudicated in the Eastern District of Texas the center of all that screams PATENT TROLL!
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I am not a big Apple supporter and I think our patent system is corrupt and totally broken. But this smells, isn't this being adjudicated in the Eastern District of Texas the center of all that screams PATENT TROLL!
Unfortunately its reputation for being pro-patent is now so known almost everybody files there. The jurisdiction shopping is starting to be a little ridiculous, perhaps they should make a rule that if you sue for over five million dollars (i.e. travel costs are insignificant) there's no longer a free choice of venue, instead you both submit a ranking and go down the list until you find one in common. So the plaintiff would rank Eastern Texas first, the defendant last and they'd instead meet somewhere in the
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The judge who hears most of these cases is the same guy. And his son is a patent lawyer who takes the cases of the patent trolls. You wonder why they all file in East Texas? It's all about dad making money for his family.
Pay them in Euros ... (Score:2)
One Court in a Texas Small Town (Score:2)
Yep. The plaintiffs shop for a favorable court, and they pick this one court in a small town in Texas.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-small-town-judge-who-sees-a-quarter-of-the-nations-patent-cases
http://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/patently-unfair/
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East Texas has only a *reputation* for awarding favorable verdicts to plaintiffs alleging infringement; in reality it is not the most favorable district.
Re:One Court in a Texas Small Town (Score:4, Insightful)
East Texas has only a *reputation* for awarding favorable verdicts to plaintiffs alleging infringement; in reality it is not the most favorable district.
Yes, but Apple was successful in fighting the change of venue to Somalia, which is where VirnetX wanted to have it tried... so they had to settle for East Texas.
VirtnetX pretty much sues everyone. (Score:5, Informative)
VirtnetX pretty much sues everyone. They are patent trolls. They lost against Cisco, which means we can sill use VPNs.
Apple will undoubtedly appeal, and cite Alice Corp vs CLS Bank, which has about a 78% win track record for the defendant, when cited as part of a patent case. Either way: the next level of appeal takes it out of East Texas, also known as "Patent Troll Heaven".
SubjectIsSubject (Score:2)
This is a joke pls no sue
The Great Texas Technohole (Score:2)
What technology companies should start doing is just stop offering any services or products in East Texas anymore.
See how they like the luddite repercussions. Really they are ruining it for the rest of the world, so why should they see any of the benefits?