VirnetX Sues Apple Over VPN in iOS

VirnetX is suing Apple along with several other corporations for patent infringement after winning a similar case against Microsoft and making $200 million in the process.

VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSE Amex: VHC), an Internet security software and technology company, today announced that, on August 11, 2010, it filed a complaint against Aastra USA, Inc., Aastra Technologies Ltd., Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., NEC Corporation, and NEC Corporation of America in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. The complaint includes allegations of patent infringement regarding five patents owned by VirnetX, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,502,135, 6,839,759, 7,188,180, 7,418,504, 7,490,151. In its complaint, VirnetX seeks both damages and injunctive relief.

The suit claims that all iPhone, iPods, and iPod Touchs infringe on a pair of patents held by the company. One of the two - Patent No. 6,502,135 - was also one that Microsoft infringed on.


ComputerWorld notes that the patent cited in both lawsuits, titled "Agile network protocol for secure communications with assured system availability," describes technologies for creating and managing a virtual private networking (VPN) connection.

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