The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has signed off on VirnetX’s patents for VPN technology, declaring them valid after a fight with software giant Microsoft. The two companies had warred over whether Microsoft’s Windows and Office products had infringed on VirnetX’s intellectual property. Now, a courtroom loss and a settlement later, Microsoft is now a VirnetX licensee and the smaller firm has aspirations of seeking further vendors to pay for its technology. Datamation has the story.
While the impact of the ruling on Microsoft is minimal at this point, the fact that the VPN patents have been declared valid increases VirnetX’s clout in doing future technology licensing deals with Microsoft or other companies.
It may also send a message to IT decision makers and technology buyers to expect to pay higher prices for products containing patented technologies licensed from third parties in the future.
