Expenses incurred related to the lease of aircraft from outside third parties that are used in the entity's business operations and direct costs incurred at airports primarily consisting of fees paid to the airport authority for takeoff and landing, gate and facility fees, and other related fees.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.2(e))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date which lease or group of leases is set to expire, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LeaseExpirationDate1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeasedAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Refers to the rate of aircraft lease in dollars per flight hour.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vhc_RateOfAircraftLease
Namespace Prefix:	vhc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Refers to the term of notice for cancellation of lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vhc_TermOfNoticeForCancellationOfLease
Namespace Prefix:	vhc_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_BuildingMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=vhc_K2InvestmentFundLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_AirTransportationEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Commitments and Related Party Transactions (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Offices [Member]
Operating Leased Assets [Line Items]
Lease expiration date			Oct. 31, 2017
K2 Investment Fund LLC [Member] \| Aircraft [Member]
Operating Leased Assets [Line Items]
Lease expiration date			Jan. 31, 2017
Rental fees incurred for use of plane	$ 228	$ 88	$ 596	$ 391
Rate of aircraft lease (in dollars per flight hour)			$ 8
Term of notice for cancellation of lease			30 days