Apple Must Pay $302 Million for Using Patented Security Technology, Judge Rules
Apple has been ordered by a Texas judge to pay $302 million in damages for using another company’s patented security technology.
VirnetX Holding Corp brought the suit against Apple, claiming the company behind the iPhone and iPad has been using their security software in features like FaceTime without permission, per Reuters.
The case was launched in 2010, with a jury originally awarding VirnetX $368.2 million in 2012. However, that verdict was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals, ruling that the trial judge mishandled calculating instructions to the jurors.
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On remand, VirnetX was awarded a staggering $625.6 million in 2015. But Judge Robert Schroeder voided that result, saying that references to the earlier case could have confused the jurors, thus prejudicing them against Apple. Schroeder also presided over this most recent trial.
This time around, jurors were asked to calculate damages for two patents Apple had already been found to have infringed upon, as well as to determine Apple’s culpability and damages for allegedly using two other VirnetX patents.
This is the latest blow to Apple’s bottom line, with the European Union recently ruling that the company owes $14.5 billion in taxes to the continent.
Apple started a factory in Cork, Ireland, in October of 1980, the company’s first European expansion. The Cork operation now employs about 6,000 Irish workers.
Also Read: Apple Owes $14.5 Billion in Back Taxes, Says the EU
Although most of Apple’s international business was being conducted through Apple subsidiaries named Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe that were based in Ireland, the main bone of contention with the EU is that most of the companies’ profits weren’t being recorded as profit made in Ireland, meaning they weren’t subject to Irish taxes.
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