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 today, and its stock plunged by more than 40 percent.
Nevada-based VirnetX won a jury trial against Apple earlier this year. An East Texas jury ruled that Apple must pay $625.6 million to VirnetX for infringing four patents. The patents are said to cover Apple's VPN on-demand feature, as well as FaceTime.
US District Judge Robert Schroeder, who oversaw the trial, published an order (PDF) on Friday that vacates the verdict and orders a new trial to begin in September. Schroeder 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. The judge quoted a VirnetX attorney reciting an argument he viewed as potentially prejudicial.
