VirnetX Soars After Patent Trial Win Over Apple Upheld on Appeal

VirnetX Holding Corp. jumped after it won an appeals court ruling that could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in patent royalties after a years-long battle with Apple Inc. over secure communications.

A U.S. appeals court, without issuing a formal opinion, affirmed a verdict from a Texas jury that found Apple’s FaceTime and VPN-on-Demand infringed VirnetX patents and awarded VirnetX more than $302 million in damages. The damage award was later increased to $439.7 million, including interest.

VirnetX, which had 21 employees as of Dec. 31 and typically reports less than $2 million in annual revenue, rose as much as ...