Federal Circuit Victory for Juniper Networks

10.2016

Irell & Manella LLP delivered its latest victories for Juniper Networks in a patent dispute with Brixham Solutions Ltd., securing two summary affirmances from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On October 6, 2016, the Federal Circuit issued rulings affirming two Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions obtained by Irell in July 2015. In those decisions, the PTAB had invalidated each of the asserted claims from two router patents (U.S. Patent No. 7,940,652 and U.S. Patent No. 7,535,895) that Brixham had accused Juniper of infringing. The PTAB found that all of the challenged claims were obvious in view of the prior art identified by Juniper. 

Brixham sued Juniper in February 2013 in the Northern District of California, alleging infringement based on four router patents that it had purchased from former Silicon Valley start-up Hammerhead Systems, Inc. in a bankruptcy sale. Brixham dropped one of the patents from the case prior to serving its infringement contentions, and then dropped another patent in response to Juniper’s motion to strike its infringement contentions. Juniper then petitioned the PTAB for inter partes review of the remaining two patents, and requested that the district court stay the underlying infringement case. The district court granted the stay in May 2014, and the PTAB initiated inter partes review for both patents a few months later in August 2014. Once the PTAB invalidated the patents, Brixham appealed the decisions to the Federal Circuit. Irell partner Rebecca Carson argued on behalf of Juniper on October 4, 2016, and the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB decisions just two days later on October 6. 

Juniper Networks is represented by Jonathan Kagan and Rebecca Carson.