Apple has told the U.S. Supreme Court that a Federal Circuit January 2019 decision to side with VirnetX in a long-running patent infringement case is “grossly unfair.” Apple said the size of the judgment resulted from the Federal Circuit making “two fundamental legal errors.”
“Defying this court’s commands, the Federal Circuit committed two fundamental legal errors to sustain a whopping $439 million judgment,” Apple wrote in the filing spotted by Law360. “It applied a rule that is fueling grossly excessive damages awards. And it sustained the inflated award even though the PTO has invalidated the underlying patent claims.”
On the award inflation front, the petition asserts the verdict flouts precedent where the damages need to be limited to the value of the patented invention, rather than all other features of the products in question. In short, VirnetX’s award should be based on the value of its patent within products accused to use it, rather than the entire value of an iPhone or Mac…
On the second point, Apple calls the decision for the Federal Circuit to not reconsider its findings after the patent claims were invalidated “legally wrong and grossly unfair.” According to Apple, the Supreme Court has made it clear that decisions that affect pending cases must be taken into account.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, the Supreme Court sides with Apple over the VirnetX patent troll.