Open Text sues over anti-malware patents
US cybersecurity firm Webroot, alongside its parent company OpenText, has sued rivals CrowdStrike, Kaspersky, Sophos, and Trend Micro for infringing seven of its malware patents.
In four separate lawsuits filed at the US District Court for the District of West Texas and first spotted by CRN, Webroot alleged that the companies used Webroot’s patented network security and endpoint protection technology in their flagship malware protection products.
Before the invention of its patented tech, security platforms would rely on the analysis of computer signatures to classify whether the software was reputable, Webroot claimed.
While this system would require “human analysts” to flag programmes as a potential threat, Webroot said its technology provides “real-time analysis of previously unknown threats”.
The four complaints, each coming in at more than 100 pages each, outline how the disputed anti-malware and network protection products rely on Webroot’s patented cybersecurity technology.
The software targeted in the lawsuits includes CrowdStrike’s Falcon software, Kaspersky’s Total Security and Endpoint Detection and Response, Sophos’ Intercept X Advanced with EDR and XDR, and Trend Micro Apex One and Smart Protection Network.
Webroot claimed that the rivals “encourages, instructs, directs, and/or requires third parties—including its certified partners and/or customers—to perform the claimed method using the software, services, and systems in infringing ways.”
It seeks a judgment from the Waco court that the companies infringe its asserted patents and should pay damages. It has also requested a mass recall of all infringing products and calls for the destruction of any infringing technology owned by the companies.
OpenText suits
Webroot’s parent company OpenText has targeted several other competitors over the past decade over the alleged infringement of its patents, including tech giant Motorola.
OpenText is also suing rival cybersecurity firms Alfresco Software, alongside three other defendants at the Waco court, alleging that they collectively infringed nine of its patents,
In September last year, Waco Judge Albright denied Alfresco’s bid to transfer the case to the US District Court for the Central District of California, where the lawsuit had originally been filed. According to Winston & Strawn lawyers, only two of the four defendants have a connection to the Western District of Texas.
OpenText is also suing Hyland Software in the US District Court for the Central District of California, claiming that it infringes its patents covering remote data-storage technology.
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