Nothing like a big legal settlement to get the week off to a roaring start. Microsoft this morning said it will pay $200 million to VirnetX Holding Corp. and license the California company's technology to settle claims that Windows and other products violate VirnetX's virtual private networking (VPN) patents.

The settlement, announced this morning, follows a $106 million jury verdict handed down by a Texas jury in March. VirnetX had followed up on that victory with another lawsuit expanding the claims to Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system.

All of the litigation will be dismissed under terms of the deal.

“We are pleased to work with VirnetX to bring these cases to a successful resolution through this settlement,” said Tom Burt, a Microsoft deputy general counsel, in the news release announcing the legal agreement. “We look forward to VirnetX’s continued progress as it develops its technologies.”

VPN technology allows computers to connect securely across a network. VirnetX CEO Kendall Larsen said in the news release that the deal will allow the company to focus on an upcoming pilot system involving its automatic VPN technology.

The settlement follows a series of legal setbacks for Microsoft in another high-profile patent case, brought by i4i Inc. of Toronto, in which a jury handed down a $290 million verdict against the Redmond company. Microsoft hasn't yet said whether it will seek to appeal that case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

VirnetX and i4i were represented by the same law firm, McKool Smith. Both cases were tried before U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division.

Previously on TechFlash: War, peace and patents: How IP unites, divides technology companies