A US District Court has order Apple to pay US$439.7 million to patent-holding firm, VirnetX, for breaching four patented technologies involving FaceTime and other iOS apps.
It is deemed the final judgement from the US District Court, though Apple has informed media it will appeal the ruling.
Apple’s actions will only extend the patent battle which first began in 2012.
Commentators speculate that the primary purpose of Apple’s pursuit of the matter is to thwart the efforts of ‘patent assertion entities’ who do not usually manufacture products of their own, but focus on suing other organisations.
VirnetX filed against Apple in 2010 and was awarded US$368 million two years later.
The company then sued again in 2012 – which was ruled upon today – leading to a legal battle back and forth between the parties. As part of the proceedings, Apple was required to pay US$300 million and is now mandated to pay even more.
The US judge has found Apple guilty of ‘wilful infringement’, which has increased the penalty per infringing device from $1.20 to $1.80. The infringing devices include certain iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
