Microsoft brought the curtain down on a three-year patent infringement battle with communications software firm VirnetX yesterday, agreeing to license the firm’s software and pay $200 million (€161 million) in compensation.
VirnetX claimed Microsoft used its patented VPN software in a wide range of Windows products in two separate suits filed with a U.S. District Court in Texas, but will drop both actions after both parties agreed an out-of-court settlement.
The settlement signals a change of heart by Microsoft, which said it would fight on when it lost the first lawsuit and being ordered to stump up $106 million in compensation in March, Computerworld reports.
In that suit, VirnetX alleged Microsoft’s Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Live Communications Server, Messenger, Office Communicator, and Office products illegally used its VPN software.
Spurred by its success, the software firm filed its second suit, which threw Windows 7 and Server 2008 into the ring, the news site states.
Kendall Larsen, chairman and CEO of VirnetX Holding Corporation, said the settlement allows the firm to focus on developing a pilot system to demonstrate the firm’s VPN technology.