VirnetX is seeking to add Apple's most recent slate of products to a lawsuit against FaceTime devices, according to an announcement. The patent holding firm says it has submitted a petition to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, one which would add the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPad Air, Retina iPad mini, fifth-generation iPod touch, and the latest Mac notebooks and desktops to the list. VirnetX has accused Apple's FaceTime of violating a patent for peer-to-peer VPN technology.
Legal battles between the two businesses date back to late 2011, when VirnetX targeted the iPhone 4S' FaceTime functions. Apple suffered a rare defeat, and was ordered to pay over $368 million in damages, a verdict upheld on appeal. After that VirnetX filed a second lawsuit, pursuing then-current devices like the iPhone 5 and fourth-generation iPad. That case has yet to be resolved, and is what
today's petition would amend.
Apple has modified FaceTime to work around the VirnetX patent, but the latter company's CEO, Kendall Larsen, claims that the changes haven't been enough. Users of Apple products have complained about the changes that have been made, and the effort may be costing the company millions of dollars extra per month in relay servers.
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