VirnetX Gains 17% On Settlement Vs. Microsoft

VirnetX Holding Corporation VHC will obtain $23 million in a settlement of a patent and license dispute with Microsoft Corporation MSFT the companies said Friday.

VirnetX gained 17 percent recently, trading at $5.76.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will pay $23 million to VirnetX to settle the dispute and to expand Microsoft's existing license on VirnetX patents.

VirnetX, and Internet security software and technology company, brought suit against Microsoft in April 2013 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging infringement of half-a dozen patents.

In September, the court partly granted VirnetX's request to compel interrogatory responses and a jury trial had been slated for July 13.

Microsoft became VirnetX's first licensee in 2010 as a result of an earlier legal settlement in which Microsoft paid VirnetX $200 million, and obtained a worldwide license for VirnetX patents for certain Microsoft products.