Thanks to this news, VirnetX's share price soared 44% in late trading on Tuesday. VirnetX's closing price on Tuesday was US$4.10.
Apple's stock price has not been affected by this news. After all, 500.2 billion US dollars is insignificant compared with Apple's profits. Apple said in February that the company created a profit of 20 billion US dollars in the first quarter.
According to VirnetX, Apple’s video call FaceTime, VPN On Demand, and iMessage capabilities infringe on the company’s four patents related to secure communications. Apple denies this.
Since 2010, the dispute has been tried back and forth between the District Court, the Patent Office and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and has gone through multiple trials, the most recent of which involved an earlier version of the Apple device. The jury has awarded Apple a compensation for VirnetX. 802 million US dollars, but then let a judge raise to 439.7 million US dollars.
The jury calculated compensation based on Apple’s sales of more than 400 million units of equipment. Kendall Larsen, VirnetX's CEO, said the compensation was 'fair'. 'The evidence is clear,' Nelson said, 'You only need to tell the truth and you don't have to worry about anything.'
Apple lawyer declined to comment.