Jury orders Newegg to pay $2.3M in 'patent troll' case

Online electronics retailer Newegg has lost a patent case concerning web encryption, according to NPR. Newegg was ordered to pay $2.3 million in damages, which was less than half of what TQP Development sought.

TQP is seen as a "nonpracticing entity," meaning its sole source of income is settlements and legal fees related to its patents. Retailers often refer to such companies as "patent trolls."

The patent in question involves common methods of securing customers' privacy in online banking and commerce. TQP acquired the patent in 2006 and has since been able to extract more than $40 million in settlements from companies including Microsoft and Amazon.

Newegg plans to appeal the verdict with the backing of testimonials by several cryptography experts.

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