VirnetX Wins $368.2M in Apple FaceTime Lawsuit

VirnetX has been awarded US$368.2 million in its patent lawsuit against Apple over the iPhone and iPad maker's FaceTime video chat feature. The patent holding company sued Apple claiming that the Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch all infringe on four of its private network patents.

VirnetX wins $368.2 million in FaceTime patent infringement lawsuitVirnetX wins $368.2 million in FaceTime patent infringement lawsuit

The company won its patent fight in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, which is a court that's often cited as favoring patent trolls. Along with its $368.2 million, VirnetX is also hoping to convince the court to block Apple from selling infringing products, which includes all of its Mac lineup, the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

The company sued Apple, along with NEC, Cisco and Aastra in August 2010 for patent infringement and listed every iPhone model along with the original iPad. After the iPad 2 was introduced the company updated its filing to include that model, and when the iPhone 4S launched that was added to the suit, too.

Apple and VirnetX squared off in court on October 31. The other companies targeted in the lawsuit are scheduled for trial in March 2013.

Apple hasn't commented on the ruling, although it's very likely an appeal will be coming soon. VirnetX CEO Kendall Larsen, however, was more than happy to comment on the outcome, stating, "We are extremely pleased with the outcome of our suit with Apple."