A jury in Texas on Friday decided that Apple should pay $ 503 million for infringing virtual private network technology patented by software security firm VirnetX.
The legal battle between Apple and Nevada -based VirnetX involved data transmission security in devices such as iPhone , iPad and iPod Touch , according to court documents .
“ We thank the jury for their time and appreciate their consideration but are disappointed with the verdict and plan to appeal, ” Apple said in reply to an AFP inquiry .
“ This case has been going on for over a decade , with patents that are unrelated to the core operations of our products and have been found to be invalid by the patent office. ”
VirnetX contended in the suit that Apple VPN On Demand functions used its patented technology .
VirnetX is based in Nevada , but patent suits are typically filed in states where jurors have been found more inclined to rule against Silicon Valley giants .
Apple had challenged the validity of the VirnetX patent .
VirnetX, which hasn ’ t been able to gain traction with its own software , relies on patent royalties for its revenue , according to a Dallas Morning News report on the jury verdict.
