Cisco Will Pay $1B in Patent Lawsuit by Centripetal Networks
In Centripetal Networks, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc.,1 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia directed Cisco Systems to pay $1.9 billion after the company lost a patent suit brought by Centripetal Networks for infringing its patented cybersecurity features and preventing Centripetal Networks from obtaining government contracts.
The district court held that Cisco infringed four patents owned by Centripetal Networks. Centripetal Networks developed a network protection system. Cisco, within a year after meeting with Centripetal Networks, integrated the associated inventions into its own networks. The district court held Cisco had to pay Centripetal Networks $755.8 million for past use of the inventions, and increased the damages by 2.5 times after finding that Cisco’s infringement was willful and egregious.
The court noted:
Under the patent damages provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 284, a court “may increase the damages up to three times the amount found or assessed.” . . . The use of “may” in the statute indicates that enhancement under § 284 is within the discretion of the district court.2
