Judge Wipes Out Patent Troll’s $625M Verdict Against Apple
A patent-holding company that won a huge court victory against Apple had its victory wiped out, and its stock plunged by more than 40 percent, reports Ars Technica.
Earlier this year, in a jury trial in East Texas, Nevada-based VirnetX won a verdict for $625.6 million against Apple. VirnetX alleged Apple infringed on four of its patents, which are said to cover Apple’s VPN on-demand feature, as well as FaceTime. But the federal judge who heard the trial has now vacated the verdict and ordered a new trial for September.
But the judge “said that the complex, consolidated trial, as well as repeated references to an earlier trial in which Apple was found to have infringed VirnetX patents, created ‘potential for juror confusion’ and unfairly prejudiced Apple,” according to the report by Joe Mullin. “The judge quoted a VirnetX attorney reciting an argument he viewed as potentially prejudicial.”
