Mobile e-mail provider Visto Corp. said Wednesday a federal judge has ordered rival Seven Networks Inc. to pay $7.7 million in damages for infringing on three patents, affirming a jury’s verdict reached eight months ago.

The ruling, issued late Tuesday by U.S. District Judge T. John Ward in Texas, represents Visto’s biggest victory yet in its legal crusade to protect several patents on technology used by major wireless phone providers to deliver e-mail on their mobile networks.