An inventor and patent holder is not a “troll”.
VirnetX is a spin off of SAIC.
SAIC developed the secure communications used by the CIA and similar agencies. VirnetX was spun off in order to offer these same secure communications to the private sector.
Apple, instead of paying VirnetX for the use of these products, simply decided to steal them. They have been found guilty in an Article 3 court of this theft.
Apple is trying to outlast VirnetX’s ability to survive an endless round of appeals and PTAB reviews. If VirnetX runs out of cash then Apple’s strategy of IP theft will win out.
Apple has said all along that it does not use these protocols in FaceTime, imessaging, or Instant VPN. The tried to explain what they did use instead to the jury, whose members did not understand the different technologies.
The software developed was done under contract for the US Government and by rights belongs to the CIA or NSA. It is NOT the property of SAIC (admitted to in court documents) as a public domain but constrained development. Therefore they do not have clear title to the patents.
Apple is not trying to outlast VirnetX as VirnetX has already been awarded $200 million on this from Microsoft in a settlement because Microsoft blinked. They have the funds. You don't know what you are talking about.
Finally, the US patent office has INVALIDATED ALL FOUR PATENTS. They are not valid as an obvious development.
If Apple developed their own code to do these functions, or bought the code from some vendor, then the litigating company should have to pay for their frivolous lawsuit, preferably Chinese style.
This crap of patenting concepts, then suing to bleed money from productive companies and people needs to be stopped.
The court should just tell the claimant, "sit down and write the code you claim was stolen." If the claimant cannot recreate any significant amount of the code he/she claims was "stolen", just take them out back and dispatch them Chinese style. Enough.
And I really hate Apple -- I just hate these thieves-by-patent-or-copyright worse.
More likely a spinoff of the CIA. See: http://btlj.org/2016/04/patent-privateering-virnetx-v-apple/
Apple is trying to outlast VirnetX's ability to survive an endless round of appeals and PTAB reviews.
VirnetX has nothing to lose, that is the whole reason they were created.