Palo Alto Networks settles Juniper patent suit for $175M

Cybersecurity software vendor Palo Alto Networks reached a settlement to pay Juniper Networks $175 million to resolve a patent dispute between the two companies. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Palo Alto Networks will make a one-time payment to Juniper of $75 million in cash and $100 in shares of common stock and warrants to purchase common stock.

Both companies will dismiss all patent litigation pending in Delaware and California and license each other the patents involved in the infringement suits for the life of the patents. In addition, both companies agreed not to sue each other for patent infringement for eight years. 

Mark McLaughlin, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, said in its fiscal third-quarter 2014 earnings release that settling the suit with Juniper "allows us to further focus our resources and time on our customers and growing our business."

The technology included in the patents was developed by Palo Alto Network founders Nir Zuk and Yuming Mao when they worked at Netscreen, which Juniper bought in 2004. Zuk and Mao, who departed Juniper in 2005 to found Palo Alto Networks, maintain that their technology did not violate the patents that Juniper now owns.

For more:
- Silicon Valley Business Journal has this article
- see this release

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