VirnetX Holding Corp (NYSE: VHC) rose Wednesday after Bloomberg reported a federal jury ruled Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) must pay the company $502.6 million.
The Texas jury said the maker of iPhones was infringing patents for secure communications, the latest twist in a dispute now in its eighth year, according to the Bloomberg piece.
VirnetX claimed that Apple’s FaceTime, VPN on Demand and iMessage features infringe four patents related to secure communications, claims that Apple denied.
The dispute has bounced between the district court, patent office and Federal Circuit since 2010. There have been multiple trials, most recently one involving earlier versions of the Apple devices. A jury in that case awarded $302 million that a judge later increased to $439.7 million.
Kendall Larsen , CEO of VirnetX, said the damages, which were based on sales of more than 400 million Apple devices, were "fair."
Apple lawyers declined to comment.
The Federal Circuit, which handles all patent appeals, declined to put this trial on hold, saying it was so far along that a verdict would come before a final validity decision.
VirnetX, based in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, reported just over $1 million in revenue last year but investors have boosted the stock by more than 70% in hopes of an eventual victory over Apple.
Shares in VirnetX climbed 60 cents, or 14.6%, Wednesday morning to $4.70
