Intellectual Ventures wins $17m in Symantec patent dispute

A US court has awarded licensing company Intellectual Ventures (IV) $17 million in damages after finding that anti-virus software business Symantec infringed two of its patents.

The US District Court for the District of Delaware ruled on Friday (February 6) that Symantec breached US patents 5,987,610 (‘610) and 6,073,142 (‘142). The $17 million in damages was far smaller than the $299 million IV had originally demanded.

IV filed the complaint in December 2010. The licensing company also targeted internet security companies McAfee, Check Point and Trend Micro.

McAfee and Check Point settled with IV on undisclosed terms in 2012 and 2013 respectively, but legal proceedings between IV and Trend Micro are due to start in May 2015.

The ‘610 patent covers a system for detecting viruses, while ‘142 is directed to a system that enables businesses to implement an anti-virus detection system across multiple e-mail accounts.

A third patent in the dispute—6,460,050—which also covers a system that detects a virus on a computer, was found not to be infringed.

Symantec had challenged the validity of all three patents, but the court rejected its claim covering each.

Melissa Finocchio, chief litigation counsel at IV, said: “We are grateful to the jury for their hard work and for confirming the validity of these patents.

“We remain committed to defending inventor rights and protecting the interests of our investors and customers,” she added.

A spokesperson for Symantec told WIPR that it was pleased that the "verdict came back for substantially less" than the $299 million that IV was seeking. It added that it was "considering its options to reduce it even further".