In a blow to Apple Inc, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Cupertino cannot avoid paying $440 million in damages for using VirnetX Inc’s patented internet security technology without permission.

Apple uses VirnetX Inc’s technologies in its FaceTime video calling features.

Supreme court justices rejected Apple’s appeal in the long-running case concurring with a 2016 federal jury’s verdict which found that Apple had indeed infringed upon VirnetX’s patents.

The lawsuit dates back to 2010 when Nevada-based VirnetX had filed a suit in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas accusing Apple of infringing on four of its patents revolving around virtual private networks and secure communications links.

In a statement, VirnetX said Apple’s FaceTime and VPN on Demand features on its iphones and iPads infringes on its patents.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, which specializes in patent disputes, upheld the judgment against Apple in 2019.