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What: Shares of VirnetXÂ (VHC +4.86%) have skyrocketed today by as much as 30% after the company scored a legal victory over tech giant Apple (AAPL 2.15%).
So what: A federal jury in Texas awarded VirnetX $368 million after it found that Apple had infringed on four of its patents related to Apple's FaceTime video calling service. The service has been integrated throughout Apple's Mac, iPhone, and iPad product families, and VirnetX also has a pending complaint with the International Trade Commission.
Now what: Apple is expected to appeal at this point, but if the damages stick, it would be a major boost for VirnetX. So far this year the company has only generated $36,000 in royalty revenue. VirnetX also has pending cases against Cisco Systems (CSCO +0.58%), Avaya, and Siemens. It also scored a victory against Microsoft (MSFT 1.57%) two years ago. VirnetX may be a tiny patent troll, but it sure can duke it out in a patent court of law with the heavyweights.
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