VirnetX adds newly granted patent to lawsuit against Apple

(08/07/2013) – Patent company VirnetX is adding a patent it was recently granted to its ongoing patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in a federal court in Texas.

Apple infringes the new patent relating to secure communications using secure domain names, VirnetX said in a statement on Tuesday. The company added that it had been granted two new patents in the area by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

VirnetX said it has filed papers with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas seeking to add allegations that some Apple products infringe the new 8,504,697 patent to the lawsuit.

The original complaint in this suit was filed in November last year, and alleged that Apple’s iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5th Generation, iPad 4th Generation, iPad mini and Mac computers running the Mountain Lion operating system infringed four patents.

Apple gave notice to the court in July that it was appealing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit a US$368 million award granted to VirnetX in another dispute over earlier generation Apple products.

After a jury trial last year, the Texas court ordered in February that Apple pay the damages to VirnetX for its infringement of claims relating to four patents, besides pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest and post-verdict damages.

VirnetX filed the patent infringement suit in August 2010 against Apple, Cisco Systems and other companies. It alleged in that complaint that some earlier products from Apple such as the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4 infringed on its four patents.

On the eve of trial, only Apple and Cisco remained. The court allowed separate trials, setting Apple’s trial for Oct. 31 last year.

VirnetX in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, describes itself as an Internet security software and technology company with patented technology for secure communications including 4G LTE security.