One of the pioneers of secure Internet communications protocols was awarded a hefty settlement in court earlier this week. The firm VirnetX obtained a sweeping victory against Apple on the grounds that Apple had infringed upon its wireless communication patents through the networking technology used in its FaceTime technology. The success of VirnetX's lawsuit is attributable to its status as a legitimate technology company and its diligence in pursuing lawsuits against major tech companies.
The terms of the settlement will require Apple to negotiate a royalty with VirnetX while paying more than $330,000 per day until an agreement is reached. This is not the first time that Apple has suffered a major legal defeat within the smartphone field--in 2011, Nokia allegedly won over a billion dollars in damages and collected a royalty estimated to be at around $10 per iPhone. The success of VirnetX's suit against Apple will likely embolden it to pursue legal action against other major tech companies. VirnetX's stock price is up more than 15% this year.
Sources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57571521-94/virnetx-v-apple-judge-upholds-$368m-patent-suit-verdict/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/14/apple-nokia-patent-case
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130227-707982.html?mod=WSJ_qtoverview_wsjlatest
Interesting. It seems like Apple's legal reign is coming to a halt. For smaller companies like VirnetX, victories like these are super crucial. Cool find Christopher!
ReplyDeleteThis is good. This shows that even the great companies can still be touched and people aren't being biased towards just the big companies.However, even with Nokia suing Apple and VirnetX suing Apple, Apple will continue to emerge in the market and still stay on top. The amount of money they earn from their products will not hurt the company in any way. Apple seems to be wasting their time with these litigations. They win big from Apple then lose to other companies.
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