VirnetX Holding Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What:VirnetX Holding (ASE: VHC) popped 27% in intraday trading after announcing it has been granted a new U.S. patent.

So what: The U.S. Patent Office granted VirnetX a new patent for an agile network protocol for secure communications with assured system availability. It is the ninth patent awarded to the company in 2011.

Now what: The company now owns 21 U.S. patents and 18 foreign patents. It has more than 100 patent applications pending. The CEO said the new patent "further increases the value and importance of VirnetX's patent portfolio as it pertains to the rapidly expanding mobile market." Furthermore, "We believe VirnetX's patent portfolio is ... vital to providing security to the 4G mobile market." Nonetheless, analysts are forecasting losses for the company until 2013.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Cindy Johnson does not own shares of any company named above. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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