Enterprise network security provider Network Associates, Inc. filed a patent infringement suit today against rival company Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS) in Federal District Court in California.
Under the suit, Network Associates is seeking unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief to stop ISS from making and distributing RealSecure, claiming the company violates U.S. patent No. 5,557,742 “relating to a method and system for detecting intrusion into and misuse of a data processing system.”
Specifically, Network Associates alleges that RealSecure, ISS’ main product, violates patent claims held by the company for its intrusion detection technology.
The intrusion detection product line, which is sold under
the brand name CyberCop, includes CyberCop Scanner, CyberCop Network, and CyberCop Server. CyberCop products are part of Network Associates’ network security suite, Net Tools Secure.
In response to the lawsuit, ISS president and CEO Tom Noonan said today in a statement: “We were aware of the potential lawsuit as a result of public statements made by William Larsen, CEO of Network Associates. Mr. Larsen stated that he intended to sue Internet Security Systems allegedly for patent infringement for the purpose of effecting our sales cycle and the momentum of our company. We believe Larsen’s tactics are inappropriate and reflect Network Associates inability to compete effectively to satisfy customer needs. Furthermore, we believe Mr. Larsen’s statements are actionable on numerous grounds and intend to respond to these latest tactics.”
On June 1, Network Associates settled another lawsuit with RSA Data Security, Inc. In that patent infringement and copyright case, RSA filed against Network Associates and its PGP Inc. and Trusted Information Systems (TIS) subsidiaries in a case involving RSA’s crypto-security software.