McAfee Fined for Patent Infringement
By PC Magazine Staff
22-JUL-2008A U.S. district court has ruled that McAfee must pay $18 million in damages for a case in which McAfee infringed on a patent held by DeepNines, a network security provider.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas said that that certain applications of the McAfee IntruShield appliance infringe upon the DeepNines patent, according to a filing with the SEC.
"McAfee believes the facts and the law do not support the jury's findings of infringement and will seek to overturn the verdict in post-trial motions with the District Court," McAfee said. "If the District Court does not grant McAfee's motions, McAfee intends to vigorously challenge the verdict through an appeal to the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals."
The company warned, however, that the fine could be upheld.
The fine of $18 million would represent about 5 percent of McAfee's quarterly revenue; for the most recent quarter ended March 31, McAfee recorded $369.6 million.
