A Beaumont jury has awarded DeepNines Technology of Dallas $18 million in a federal patent infringement case against McAfee, one of the world's largest Internet security companies. In a trial before U.S. District Judge Ron Clark for the Eastern District of Texas, jurors unanimously found that on July 15 McAfee's IntruShield line of Internet intrusion protection products directly infringe a patent developed by DeepNines. Jurors found also that McAfee, based in Santa Clara, Calif., actively induced and contributed to its customers' infringement of DeepNines' technology. Lead counsel for DeepNines, Tom Melsheimer of Fish & Richardson, called the victory a "classic David versus Goliath case." "This was revolutionary Internet security technology developed by DeepNines' founder and CEO Sue Dark, and the jury sent a clear message that an industry giant like McAfee cannot utilize its strength and position in the industry to squelch a smaller, innovative competitor like DeepNines," Melsheimer said in a statement. The case began when DeepNines saw a press release from McAfee announcing a product very similar to DeepNines' intrusion protection system that works with a firewall, for which it had applied for a patent in 2000. McAfee applied for its patent in 2001, which was issued as U.S. Patent No. 6,513,122 on Jan. 28, 2003. DeepNines filed an interference with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO ruled in March 2004 that DeepNin ...
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A Beaumont jury has awarded DeepNines Technology of Dallas $18 million in a federal patent infringement case against McAfee, one of the world's largest Internet security companies. In a trial before U.S. District Judge Ron Clark for the Eastern District of Texas, jurors unanimously found that on July 15 McAfee's IntruShield line of Internet intrusion protection products directly infringe a patent developed by DeepNines. Jurors found also that McAfee, based in Santa Clara, Calif., actively induced and contributed to its customers' infringement of DeepNines' technology. Lead counsel for DeepNines, Tom Melsheimer of Fish & Richardson, called the victory a "classic David versus Goliath case." "This was revolutionary Internet security technology developed by DeepNines' founder and CEO Sue Dark, and the jury sent a clear message that an industry giant like McAfee cannot utilize its strength and position in the industry to squelch a smaller, innovative competitor like DeepNines," Melsheimer said in a statement. The case began when DeepNines saw a press release from McAfee announcing a product very similar to DeepNines' intrusion protection system that works with a firewall, for which it had applied for a patent in 2000. McAfee applied for its patent in 2001, which was issued as U.S. Patent No. 6,513,122 on Jan. 28, 2003. DeepNines filed an interference with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO ruled in March 2004 that DeepNin ...