Friday, March 15, 2013

VHC Plunges 32%: Loses VPN Suit Against Cisco, Says Bloomberg

Shares of patent holding company VirnetX Holding (VHC) are down $11.38, or 32%, at $24.29, following headlines from Bloomberg and others saying the company has lost its patent suit against Cisco Systems (CSCO) over technology for virtual private networks.

VirnetX has been suing Cisco for $258 million for infringing patents VirnetX holds on VPNs given Cisco has made more than $1 billion on the infringing technology since 2005.

Today’s action follows VirnetX having won a $368 million verdict against Apple (AAPL) in November, in a suit pertaining to the same technology.

Shares of Cisco are up 2 cents at $21.59.

Update: Cisco general counsel Mark Chandler a short while ago issued the following statement in email:

We are grateful that a jury in Tyler, Texas, agreed with Cisco that our accused products do not use VirnetX�s technology. Cisco will continue to do the right thing for our customers and shareholders by vigorously defending against patent infringement lawsuits that lack merit. In addition, it�s important to note the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has initially found nearly all of the asserted claims from VirnetX invalid.

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