Apple has been ordered to pay $625 million to notorious patent troll VirnetX after a U.S. court judged that the iPhone-maker had infringed on patents used in its iMessage and FaceTime services.
VirnetX, which is commonly referred to as a troll because it makes almost of its revenue from patent licensing and lawsuits, has sued a number of tech companies over the past decade. It settled a 2014 dispute with Microsoft over patents used in Skype, pocketing $24 million in the process, and made $200 million from the Redmond-based company via a 2010 case.
“The jury saw what we have been saying all along: Apple has been infringing VirnetX’s patented technology for years,” the legal firm that represents VirnetX said in a statement.
Apple said it would appeal the decision. The company argued that the patents in question are not valid.
“We are surprised and disappointed by the verdict and we’re going to appeal. Our employees independently designed this technology over many years, and we received patents to protect this intellectual property. All four of VirnetX’s patents have been found invalid by the patent office. Cases like this simply reinforce the desperate need for patent reform,” it said in a statement.
Nevada-based VirnetX previously won $368 million from Apple in 2013 when a U.S. court adjudged that it infringed on patents used in FaceTime and its VPN service inside iOS. Apple later tweaked its services, but VirnetX argued that the changes weren’t enough. In addition to Apple and Microsoft, VirnetX has taken on Cisco, Avaya, Siemens and others for alleged patent violations.