Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Internet communications specialist VirnetX (NYSE: VHC) jumped more than 11% in intraday trading on higher than usual volume.

So what: The big gains seem to have been driven by rumors that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) could be in talks with VirnetX to settle a patent infringement suit that the company filed in August.

Now what: VirnetX may be a tiny company, but earlier this year it showed that it can swing a big bat when it scored a $200 million patent infringement award in a suit challenging one of the kings of the software world. In other words, it wouldn't be crazy to think that it might actually score against the likes of Apple and Cisco. The move today, however, comes solely on rumor, so jumping into the fracas on that alone would be a dicey move.

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