Apple Not Collaterally Estopped From Denying Infringement by Redesigned Version of FaceTime

The court denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment that the redesigned version of defendant's adjudicated product infringed its network security patents because there were genuine disputes of material fact which precluded a finding of collateral estoppel. "⁠Apple argues that issue preclusion is inapplicable here, as the redesigned product differs in design and operation from the product at issue in the [earlier lawsuit]. . . . Particularly, Apple notes that the accept message from the FaceTime servers to the caller device was changed between the first version of FaceTime and the redesigned FaceTime. Apple suggests this change to FaceTime was so significant that the servers can no longer meet the 'indication' requirement of the claims. . . . [T]he accused devices in this case are not essentially the same as the devices at issue in the [prior] case. [Defendant] has raised a question of material fact as to whether the redesigned version of [the adjudicated product] infringes the claims of the asserted patents. The parties’ arguments stem from a fundamental factual dispute with respect to the design and operation of the redesigned product, which the Court declines to resolve at summary judgment. Whether, after the changes to the accept message, the [accused] servers fall within the scope of the court’s claim construction is a question of fact for the jury to resolve at trial."

VirnetX Inc. et al v. Apple Inc., 6-12-cv-00855 (TXED March 9, 2018, Order) (Schroeder, USDJ)