Free for a Fee

A $368.2 million verdict against Apple has been upheld in the Eastern District of Texas, putting patent holding company VirnetX in a position to collect both royalties and damages from Apple if it continues to use its VPN and FaceTime technologies. Judge Leonard Davis ruled late Tuesday on Apple’s request for either a reduction in the damages or a new trial, denying both requests and ordering the two companies to work out a licensing deal on VirnetX’s patents.

A patent appeals court has revived (PDF) one of the nation’s most controversial patent lawsuits—one that looked to be over in January 2012. Originally filed in 2007, Move, Inc. v. Real Estate Alliance Ltd. involves a patent that has become infamous in real estate circles: US Patent No. 5,032,989, issued to Mark Tornetta back in 1991. Tornetta and his lawyers say the patent covers just about any use of a real estate map online that has a “graphical interface” and “drill-down features.” Since online maps are ubiquitous in the real estate market, Tornetta and his lawyers believe they’re owed money by just about every real estate agent or service in the nation.“It is a very broad-based patent,” said Louis Solomon, the attorney representing Tornetta. “We are seeking reasonable royalties that conservatively run into the hundreds of millions, plus interest. Given that the Federal Circuit has significantly expanded the liable parties, the damages will go up significantly.”

A UK court has handed Apple another win against Samsung regarding standards-essential patents. Judge Christopher Floyd ruled on Wednesday that Apple’s mobile products do not infringe on Samsung’s patents on 3G wireless networking, likely dashing Samsung’s hopes of receiving royalties on such patents in the EU.

The decision is just one of many that have occurred around the globe between Apple and Samsung. And Samsung’s attempts to assert patents that are considered “essential” to 3G standards have been controversial. Last year, the European Commission said it had begun investigating Samsung for trying to use its patents against competitors—which it agreed to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

Nintendo has been ordered to pay $30.2 million in damages to Tomita Technologies after a jury found that the company infringed on a patent for glasses-free 3D displays. The ruling found that Nintendo used the technology in the Nintendo 3DS without permission.

The case revolves around a patent for a “Stereoscopic image picking up and display system based upon optical axes” filed by Sejiro Tomita, a former Sony employee, in 2003.