Judge rules that despite invalidation of VirnetX’s patents, Apple cannot get the money it paid back from the company.
In the decision that Judge Schroeder released yesterday, he said that Apple waited too long to file a similar motion for relief. More specifically, he added that “Apple drafted a substantively identical motion in six days, it did not need five months to reframe that motion as a request for relief under Rule 60(b).” Apple had told the judge that the reason for its delay in requesting its money back was because it wanted to give the Supreme Court some time to render its decision. But this explanation did not hold any water with the judge who added that VirnetX could not have been biased in the case since Apple had already paid it. In his order, Judge Schroeder wrote that “VirnetX’s lack of prejudice cuts against a finding of untimeliness, but it does not outweigh Apple’s failure to provide a colorable excuse for its delay.”
So there it is folks. Apple cannot get its $454 million back. And to make matters worse, it is not yet done with VirnetX as a courtroom opponent. Both firms are squaring off in a second patent infringement suit that was partly tossed in November and remanded to lower courts.
VirnetX derives all of its revenue and income from licensing its patents. And Apple isn’t the only tech company it has beaten in court. It previously won a $200 million decision against Microsoft. And because its revenue and profits are determined by judicial rulings, the stock price bounces back and forth from verdict to verdict. On Wednesday the stock rose 7.41% or 38 cents to $7.41.
