VirnetX Asserts New Patent in Apple Lawsuit

The name of Virnet X may sound familiar to many: it is the Internet security software and security company that successfully asserted it patents against Apple and won a $368.2 million ruling. Although it disappeared from the headlines shortly afterwards, the company is back: now it claims Apple is violating the patents recently added to its portfolio.

VirnetX announced today that it has been granted two new patents, US Patent No. 8,504,696 for a System and Method Employing an Agile Network Protocol for Secure Communications Using Secure Domain Names, and US Patent No. 8,504,697 (“‘697 patent”), for a System and Method Employing an Agile Network Protocol for Secure Communications Using Secure Domain Names, by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

“We are very pleased to add these new patents to our patent portfolio,” said Kendall Larsen, VirnetX CEO and President. “Our patent portfolio consists of quality, essential patents and we believe these new patents will strengthen our ongoing licensing efforts to the mobile markets.”

With the new patents in its portfolio, the company immediately took action to monetize it: has filed papers with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, and is seeking to add the ‘697 patent to the currently pending patent infringement lawsuit. The company claims that Apple devices, including the iPhone 5, iPad 4 and new Mac computers, which use the FaceTime and iMessage functionality, violate its patents.

VirnetX claims the violation is willful, and it demands that Apple pay unspecified damages.

VirnetX et. al. v. Apple by PriorSmart