Bloomberg: Cisco Told to Pay $1.9 Billion in Security-Patent Trial Loss by Susan Decker
Cisco Systems Inc. was told to pay $1.9 billion after losing a trial brought by a Virginia company that claimed the networking giant copied patented cybersecurity features and shut the smaller company out of government contracts.
Cisco infringed four patents owned by Centripetal Networks Inc., District Judge Henry Morgan in Norfolk ruled. The judge heard the month-long trial over video conference in June after canceling the use of a jury because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cisco said it would appeal the decision.
Centripetal Networks, based in Herndon, Virginia, said it developed a network protection system, funded in part by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, only to see Cisco integrate the inventions into its own networks after meetings and presentations by Centripetal officials.
“The fact that Cisco released products with Centripetal’s functionality within a year of these meetings goes beyond mere coincidence,” Morgan said.