Irell wins complete dismissal of patent infringement case

Sunnyvale-based Juniper Networks Inc. won a complete dismissal of a two-year patent infringement case in the Northern District of California.

In a judgment filed Aug. 13, U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup of San Francisco accepted a "joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice" between Juniper and plaintiff Finjan Inc., an East Palo Alto-based cybersecurity company.

The dismissal also includes "all pending claims and counterclaims in the case, thereby rendering all issues already decided ripe for appeal," court documents show.

"The outcome is consistent with previous outcomes Juniper has received," said Jonathan S. Kagan, lead attorney for the Irell & Manella LLP team representing Juniper. "When they're threatened with patent lawsuits with no merit, Juniper will spend the money to fight, and they will win."

Calls to James R. Hannah, a Silicon Valley partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP representing Finjan, were not returned Friday.

Finjan sued Juniper claiming the company infringed on seven patents. Alsup ordered each company to select its strongest claim for what he called a "patent shootout." Finjan Inc. v. Juniper Networks Inc., 17-CV05659 (N.D. Cal, filed Sept. 29, 2017).

The Irell team won both claims. Last August, Alsup granted summary judgment for Juniper, ruling the company did not infringe on a patent for malware-protection technology against downloadable files.

In December, a federal jury ruled Juniper did not infringe on Finjan's '494 patent, which handles malware protection for personal computers, court documents show.

-- Glenn Jeffers