Editor’s note: I am proud to say I have a history with Centripetal Networks serving on their board and then later as an advisor. It was horrible to learn that a Tech Titan like Cisco was infringing on their patents. It is good now to see when the facts were reviewed justice was done. -bg

United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia Honorable Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. has issued Judgment in favor of Centripetal Networks after the conclusion of a 22-day bench trial in Centripetal Networks, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., Case No. 2:18-cv-94.  The ruling awards Centripetal $2.6 to $3.2 Billion, making this the largest award in a US patent infringement ruling to date.

Centripetal’s intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions include the Threat Intelligence Gateway, which it leverages to deliver CleanINTERNET, a comprehensive intelligence-led cyber service.

This is the press release announcing the conclusion of this matter:

CENTRIPETAL NETWORKS AWARDED $2.6 TO $3.2 BILLION IN PATENT DAMAGES FOR CISCO’S WILLFUL PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Herndon, Virginia – October 6, 2020 — Yesterday, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Honorable Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. issued Judgment in favor of Centripetal Networks after the conclusion of a 22-day bench trial in Centripetal Networks, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., Case No. 2:18-cv-94.

At trial, Centripetal Networks asserted that Cisco Systems (“Cisco”) infringed five U.S. patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 9,137,205 (“the ‘205 Patent”), 9,203,806 (“the ‘806 Patent”), 9,500,176 (“the ‘176 Patent”), 9,686,193 (“the ‘193 Patent”), 9,917,856 (“the ‘856 Patent”). Centripetal’s technology is designed to apply massively scaled intelligence to proactively defend internet connected networks. Centripetal innovated for the past decade and invested extensively to develop each component of its suite of security technologies. The company developed an intelligence driven security gateway branded RuleGATE® which enables a powerful cost-effective service called CleanINTERNET®. This layer of protection makes it extremely difficult for an attacker to penetrate and exploit legitimate networks.

Yesterday afternoon, the Court issued a 178-page Opinion and Order, detailing its findings that Cisco willfully infringed four of the five asserted patents, awarded damages of $755,808,545 (enhanced 2.5 times for willful infringement), prejudgment interest of $13,717,925, which resulted in a total past damages award in an amount of $1,903,239,288. The Court also awarded a running royalty of 10% on the apportioned sales of the accused products and their successors for a period of three years, followed by a second three-year term with a running royalty of 5% on such sales, resulting in a total damages award of $2,657,941,011 to $3,253,585,041. The damages award is the largest award of any U.S. patent case to date.

“The Court’s ruling affirms the opportunity for innovative companies like ours to develop solutions for the largest market opportunities,” said Steven Rogers, CEO of Centripetal Networks. “We’ve worked toward a paradigm shift in security through our development of the fundamental technologies behind CleanINTERNET. We believe these technologies are important for the country. Without the protection of a patent an emerging company could never take on big important challenges like these. We are grateful to the court for affirming this.”

“So many in our company have worked in communications security and intelligence their entire careers,” said Jonathan Rogers, COO of Centripetal Networks. “We offer the best and most advanced intelligence solutions on the market. From this point forward we will continue to add researchers, engineers, and security analysts to the Centripetal team. We want to ensure the problem of cyber-security is marginalized and we’re going to make the investments necessary to do that.”

About Centripetal
Centripetal delivers intelligence-driven security. Centripetal invented the Threat Intelligence Gateway and leverages its technologies to deliver CleanINTERNET, a comprehensive intelligence-led cyber service. With Centripetal, customers across every vertical and of every size can persistently prevent over 90% of known threats with intelligence applied in advance. Gartner, Inc. previously named Centripetal a “Cool Vendor” in security for 2017, the Security Innovation Network (SINET) named Centripetal a “SINET-16” awardee, and was ranked number 93 of the Fastest Growing Companies in North America on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500™. Centripetal’s technology is protected by over 50 US and international patents and is deployed protecting critical networks globally. For more information, visit www.centripetal.ai.

Copyright © 2020 Centripetal Networks Inc. All rights reserved. CleanINTERNET, RuleGATE, QuickThreat, AI-Analyst, ACT, and the Centripetal design are registered trademarks of Centripetal Networks Inc. Centripetal’s products and technologies are covered by multiple U.S. and international patents. For a full list and for more information, please visit www.centripetal.ai/legal. All other names and trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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