VMware hit with $84.5 mln verdict in US retrial over software patents (updated)

VMware

02/05/2023 18:32

(Adds comment from Densify)
    By Blake Brittain
       May 2 (Reuters) - VMware Inc  VMW.N  must pay $84.5
million for infringing two patents belonging to rival software
company Densify, a Delaware federal jury said on Monday.
    The verdict, made public Tuesday, said VMware willfully
violated Densify's patent rights with its software for
optimizing "virtual machines" used in cloud computing.
    A VMware spokesperson declined to comment on the verdict,
citing active litigation. 
    Densify CEO Gerry Smith said the company was "grateful" for
the verdict, which "validated the hard work of our inventors."
    Canada-based Densify won a verdict worth nearly $237 million
against VMware in the same case in 2020. 
    A federal judge threw out that verdict and ordered a new
trial later that year. Densify's patent-holding subsidiary owned
the patents at issue, and Judge Leonard Stark said the parent
company did not have sufficient rights to the patents to be
involved in the case at the time. 
    Densify accused Palo Alto, California-based VMware's vROps,
vSphere and other software of infringing patents covering
"virtualization" technology that enables multiple computer
systems to run on a single server.
    The lawsuit alleged that VMware used Densify's technology as
a "blueprint" for its own. Densify said VMware "dominates the
virtual infrastructure market" and that it could "outspend
Densify and swamp Densify's marketing and sales" if its
infringement is not stopped.
    VMware argued it did not infringe and that the patents were
invalid. It later filed its own patent infringement lawsuit
against Densify, which is still ongoing. 

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)