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Sophos, Fortinet settle patent lawsuit, allegations of staff poaching
No admission of malfeasance either way
Sophos has settled a patent infringement lawsuit with US competitor Fortinet, in a case that also involved allegations of staff poaching.
The recently listed UK company, a cloud and network security solutions outfit, paid an undisclosed sum to Fortinet to settle the dispute, as a brief statement (below) explains.
Sophos Group and Fortinet Inc have signed a settlement in respect of all outstanding litigation, including respective patent claims the parties had asserted against each other.
The settlement was reached through mediation and neither party admitted any liability.
The Financial Times adds (subscription needed) that the suit, which was filed in 2013, featured three patent infringement claims as well as allegations that “Sophos poached Fortinet's employees and tried to convince others to jump ship”.
Fortinet and Sophos lock horns most closely in the Unified Threat Management (all-in-one security appliance) sub-market of the infosec business. ®