TYLER – A company that won a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple Inc. wants the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas to up its ordered award to $1 billion, according to a motion for entry of judgment submitted June 4.
VirnetX Inc., one of the plaintiffs who sued Apple Inc., filed a motion for entry of judgment and equitable statutory relief in its latest legal action against the company. VirnetX was already award $502.6 million in its ongoing lawsuit after a trial by jury ruled in its favor, the Southeast Texas Record previously reported. VirnetX sued Apple alleging its FaceTime capabilities and VPN On Demand infringed four of its patents.
Now, VirnetX wants its damages doubled in the case that began in the early 2000s.
In its motion, VirnetX stated the jury’s quick decision should solely serve as enough reason to fulfill the request of doubling the awarded amount.
VirnetX also used the Read Corp. v. Portec Inc. case to prove its point.
“'Section 248 permits district courts to exercise their discretion in a manner free from inelastic constraints,'” the motion quoted.
The plaintiff then turned to Apple’s popularity and financial status to suggest why the amount should be increased, citing Apple is the richest publicly traded company worldwide with value growing closer to $1 trillion.
When it comes to how long Apple infringed on its patent, VirnetX said the roughly nine-year action is enough to warrant more damages as well as Apple’s failure to try to resolve the issue, its alleged attempt to cause injury to the plaintiff and hide its misconduct.
VirnetX went on to request the court determine this is an “exceptional case” and award attorneys’ fees as well as cost and supplemental damages, according to the motion. It also asked the court to block Apple from continuing to infringe on its patents and if not, award a royalty in some form.
The plaintiff also asked for prejudgment and post-judgment interest.