Cloudflare emerges victorious in patent infringement case against Sable IP, after being sued for damages in 2021. Sable IP acquired outdated patents to go after various companies, attempting to coerce settlements outside of court. However, Cloudflare opted to fight the case to the end and ultimately won.
Sable Networks obtained patents from Caspian Networks, founded by Lawrence Roberts, a co-creator of ARPANET, the precursor to the internet. Despite ceasing operations in 2004, Sable Networks purchased the patents to pursue legal action against other networking companies.
The modus operandi of this patent troll was to acquire patents through Sable IP and use them to sue multiple companies. They have previously targeted Cisco, Fortinet, Check Point, SonicWall, and Juinper Networks, pressuring them into settlements. In contrast, Cloudflare chose to contest the case until the end.
Among the four patents used by Sable for litigation, only one remained – 7,012,919 (filed in 2000, expires in 2023). Sable attempted to argue that their technology, Magic Transit and Argo, resembled micro-flow in the patent.
After a 5-day trial, the jury ruled in favor of Cloudflare, finding no infringement. Following the possibility of an appeal, Sable decided to settle by paying Cloudflare $225,000 in legal fees and releasing the patent for public use (with no practical effect as the patent had expired).
TLDR: Cloudflare triumphs over Sable IP in a patent lawsuit, successfully defending against infringement claims and securing a favorable outcome in court.
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