NetScout Developed the Technology in Question, Acting to Invalidate
Patents
WESTFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 5, 2017--
NetScout Systems, Inc., (NASDAQ: NTCT), a leading provider of
business assurance, a powerful combination of service assurance,
cybersecurity, and business intelligence solutions, recently appeared
before a Federal Court in Texas in support of its arguments challenging
baseless claims brought last year by a non-practicing entity known as
Packet Intelligence LLC (“PI”). PI is a shell company that makes no
products, and its only assets are a portfolio of patents that it has
asserted against NetScout. The products it has accused (the GeoProbe
line of products acquired with Tektronix Communications), are based on
technology NetScout developed and sold decades ago and that use
networking standards created decades ago. NetScout has already informed
PI about the clear record of prior art, by NetScout and others, and has
notified PI of its improper assertion of the patents. Due to PI’s
failure to withdraw its frivolous claims, NetScout intends to invalidate
PI’s entire patent portfolio and seek reimbursement of its own legal
expenses as well as any other penalties the court may order.
Several years before the asserted patents were even filed, NetScout had
already developed, marketed, and sold remote monitoring (RMON) probes
that used the same standard features and techniques described by the
asserted patents. “It is absurd that the so-called inventors applied for
patents on technology they did not invent,” said Anil Singhal,
co-founder, chief executive officer and president, NetScout. “What is
worse is that the technology covered by those patents was well known
years before they were even filed – NetScout had been selling RMON
probes employing that technology for more than a decade before those
filings. For Packet Intelligence to turn around and try to enforce those
patents against us on this technology is an outrage.”
NetScout has uncovered additional evidence that at least one of the
inventors of the asserted patents may have improperly based his filings
on contributions of members of a Working Group of the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF) that created the first RMON standards and
many proprietary extensions, and those inventors may have committed
inequitable conduct by withholding this critical information from the
United States Patent and Trademark Office in breach of their legal duty
of disclosure. “When I first learned about this lawsuit, I was surprised
to learn that the listed primary inventor of these patents was a member
of the IETF working group at the same time as several other people and
me, and had filed patent applications to cover a network monitoring
probe that was actually envisioned by the RMON standards developed by
the IETF several years before his patent applications were filed,” Mr.
Singhal said.
NetScout has notified PI of both the invalidity and the non-infringement
of the patents and cautioned PI against pursuit of specious claims.
“Asserting infringement of unenforceable patents, withholding relevant
prior art information from the Patent Office, falsely accusing people of
infringing, and abusing the court system to try to intimidate companies
like NetScout is unconscionable,” said Jeff Levinson, general counsel,
NetScout. He continued, “We will devote our efforts to invalidating the
patents and demonstrating non-infringement, but more than that, we will
ask the Court to hold Packet Intelligence accountable for its improper
tactics. The baseless patent claims and the tactics that a shell company
like Packet Intelligence uses should be stopped. NetScout will fight
against this type of misconduct.”
About NetScout
NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT) is a leading provider of business
assurance – a powerful combination of service assurance, cybersecurity,
and business intelligence solutions – for today’s most demanding service
provider, enterprise and government networks. NetScout’s Adaptive
Service Intelligence (ASI) technology continuously monitors the service
delivery environment to identify performance issues and provides insight
into network-based security threats, helping teams to quickly resolve
issues that can cause business disruptions or impact user experience.
NetScout delivers unmatched service visibility and protects the digital
infrastructure that supports our connected world. To learn more, visit www.netscout.com
or follow @NETSCOUT on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
©2017 NetScout Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. NetScout, the NetScout
logo, Guardians of the Connected World, Adaptive Service Intelligence,
InfiniStream, InfiniStreamNG, nGenius and nGeniusONE are registered
trademarks or trademarks of NetScout Systems, Inc., and/or its
subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.
Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective
owners.
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Source: NetScout Systems, Inc.
NetScout
Donna Candelori, +1 408-571-5226
Donna.candelori@netscout.com