Juniper Scores Complete Victory in Patent Dispute With Finjan

08.2019

Irell & Manella LLP delivered Juniper Networks a complete win in the hard-fought patent lawsuit brought by Finjan, Inc. – securing a final judgment that dismisses the case and gives Juniper victory on all of Finjan’s asserted patents. The result is particularly rewarding for Juniper as Finjan has been referred to as “Cybersecurity’s Top Patent Litigator” by Bloomberg, and its success in litigations involving other major players in the security industry has caused many of Finjan’s other targets to capitulate to its financial demands.

The judge had previously ordered each party to select the patent claim it felt was strongest and move for early summary judgment on that claim. Juniper prevailed on the claim it selected on summary judgment and defeated Finjan’s summary judgment motion. This led to a jury trial on Finjan’s strongest claim, where Irell obtained a unanimous verdict of non-infringement in December 2018.

After Irell’s trial victory, the judge ordered each party to move for summary judgment on its next-strongest claim. Again, Irell won on its motion and defeated Finjan’s motion. This time, however, the judge not only rejected Finjan’s summary judgment arguments, but instead entered an order to show cause as to why Juniper should not be granted summary judgment—and ultimately granted summary judgment in Juniper’s favor. Shortly thereafter, Finjan voluntarily dismissed all of its remaining claims against Juniper, giving Juniper a complete win on all of Finjan’s asserted patents. The court entered final judgment dismissing all of Finjan’s claims on August 13, 2019.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a summary affirmance on appeal. In July 2021, the trial judge ordered Finjan to pay Juniper $5.9 million in legal fees.   

The Irell team representing Juniper included Jonathan Kagan, Rebecca Carson and Alan Heinrich.