Volume VIII

Issue : 7: April 1, 2010

• Canadian Government to Oppose Copyright Levy on MP3 Players
• Google Closes its Internet Search Service in China due to Conflict Over Censorship
• Australia to Propose Net Filtering Rules
• Googles Nexus One Trademark Application Denied
• EU Court Backs Google on Linking Ad Sale to Brands
• VirnetX Successful In Suit Against Microsoft Goes For Round Two
• Documents Surface in Dispute between Viacom and YouTube

Home > Volume VIII > Issue 7: April 1, 2010 > VirnetX Successful In Suit Against Microsoft Goes For Round Two

VirnetX Successful In Suit Against Microsoft Goes For Round Two

On March 16, 2010, after a week-long trial, a federal jury of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Microsoft wilfully infringed the patents of VirnetX and awarded VirnetX $105.75 million in damages. VirnetX, a developer of software to secure instant messaging and VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) communications, initiated the suit in February 2007, alleging that Microsoft had infringed two of its patents related to virtual private network (VPN) technology.

A few days after receiving the verdict, VirnetX announced that it has launched a second lawsuit against Microsoft, this time claiming that the patent violations found in Windows XP and Vista in the first suit also exist in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. These products had not hit the marketplace at the time the first suit was launched.

Microsoft has issued statements claiming that its products do not infringe the patents involved and that it believes the patents are invalid. Microsoft has stated that it intends to challenge the previous court decision as well as VirnetX’s new suit.

For additional information, visit :

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1612146820100317

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10469582-75.html