Federal judge throws out $625.5M verdict in VirnetX patent case against Apple
The verdict was the result of two separate lawsuits combined into a single trial. A judge orders the cases to be tried separately at later times.
FaceTime is one of the techonlogies that Apple was sued for patent infringment.
It's definitely not a typical case of the Mondays for Apple.
A federal judge decided late Friday to throw out a verdict that required Apple to pay VirnetX $625.6 million in damages for patent infringements, reported Reuters.
The verdict was awarded to VirnetX back in February after a ruling that Apple illegally used VirnetX's technology in its popular FaceTime video chat service and virtual private networks. At the time, Apple said it would appeal the decision.
Since 2012, VirnetX, a company that makes most of its money from patent licensing, has been suing Apple for patent infringements. The most recent verdict was a result of two separate lawsuits.
US District Judge Robert Schroeder in Tyler, Texas, who voided the verdict, said combining two lawsuits into a single trial confused the jurors and was unfair to Apple. He ruled that both case need to be tried separately with the first starting on September 26.
Both Apple and VirnetX didn't immediately return requests for comments.