Vringo Files Notice of Appeal on Past Damages in Google Case

   By Ben Fox Rubin 
 

Vringo Inc. (VRNG) is making a new attempt to capture a large chunk of past damages it sought in a patent suit against Google Inc. (GOOG) and others, appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals a federal court decision in the case.

Vringo, a mobile-technology and intellectual-property company, in November won about $30 million in damages and was granted future royalties from its patent suit against Google--the primary defendant--as well as AOL Inc. (AOL), IAC/InterActiveCorp. (IACI) and others. However, the court prevented Vringo from being awarded any potential damages for the time prior to when it filed its suit, citing a long delay in filing its claims. The ruling was a significant blow for Vringo, which sought to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in past damages.

Vringo is now appealing that ruling, as well as this week's court decision denying it a motion for a new trial on the dollar amount of past damages.

The appeals come after Vringo this week also asked a federal court to raise the royalty rate it was awarded, arguing the defendants have continued to infringe on its patents.

The company had claimed that the defendants infringed on two of its patents used to select and position advertising on Internet-search results. As it has stated in the past, Google said Wednesday that it remained confident that Vringo's patents are invalid and Google didn't infringe them, saying it will ultimately win the case.

A Google representative wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.

Vringo was founded in 2006 with a focus on mobile technology, but last year it agreed to merge with privately held Innovate/Protect, which now controls most of the company and brought it into the intellectual-property industry. Innovate/Protect, which bought the two contested patents from Lycos Inc. along with six others for $3.2 million, has alleged the technology it owns is widely used in the search industry.

Since winning the Google suit, Vringo sued Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), alleging infringement of the same two patents. Recent court papers in that case indicated that the two parties have been in settlement discussions.

Vringo's shares closed Wednesday at $3.30 and were down 1.2% premarket. The stock is up 15% so far this year.

Write to Ben Fox Rubin at [e-mail]

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