Microsoft capitulates
VirnetX, which reached a $200 million settlement with Microsoft, has sued Apple, NEC, Aastra, Cisco over the same technology.
VirnetX filed the case yesterday in federal court in Tyler, Texas. The Scotts Valley, California-based company is seeking cash and an order to ban further use of its patented inventions. The patents cover use of a domain-name service to set up virtual private networks, through which a website owner can interact with customers in a secure way or an employee can work at home and access a company’s electronic files. It was developed from work performed for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to develop secure communications, VirnetX. (Which means that it’s overpriced and usually gets things dead wrong. sub.ed.)
Jobs’ Mob used the idea in its iPhone, iPod music player and iPad Virnet claims. Cisco used it in its Communications manager products, routers and servers. Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, agreed to pay $200 million in May to end a patent dispute that involved some of the same patents as in the latest case.
