Press Releases

CUPERTINO, CA (May 14, 1997) - Trend Micro Incorporated announced today that it has sued its two largest competitors, McAfee Associates (Nasdaq: MCAF) and Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq:SYMC), for infringement of its recently issued U.S. patent on computer virus detection techniques used for data carried over the Internet, electronic mail and groupware.

The complaint, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, specifically identifies McAfee’s WebShield and GroupShield anti-virus products, as well as Symantec’s Norton Antivirus for Internet Email Gateways as infringing products.

The federal lawsuit asks the court for damages, including treble damages for any "willful" infringement, and for a permanent injunction to prevent McAfee and Symantec from making, using or selling infringing products, including those cited.

The lawsuit also asks the court to stop ongoing infringement involving already-sold products by preventing McAfee and Symantec from:

(a) supporting and updating the infringing products by supplying virus signature patterns for new viruses;
(b) renewing licenses; and
(c) making new versions or enhancements of infringing products.

The alleged infringement concerns U.S. Patent No. 5,623,600 which was issued to Trend Micro on April 22 and which involves key techniques used to protect computer networks from viruses. The patented technology is presently used in Trend Micro’s award-winning InterScan VirusWall. It is also used in server-based anti-virus products of a number of other anti-virus vendors that scan for viruses in Internet traffic and in electronic mail. The patent also applies to certain virus detection methods recently incorporated into some firewalls.

"The federal government has confirmed that by developing and taking to market ground-breaking technology in our field, we are entitled to a measure of protection against imitators and infringers," said Trend Micro general counsel Robert Lowe. "We’re confident the court will uphold the conclusions of the U.S. Patent Office and take the reasonable actions we request to stop the ongoing infringement."

"We are investigating whether additional defendants and infringing products should be added to the lawsuit," Lowe added. "In some cases we are gathering more product information or awaiting the release of products or services now in beta testing before making final decisions."

"Our options in the case of infringement range from litigation to turning the infringers into business partners," he added. "We’ll make those calls on a case-by-case basis. Either way, we intend to vigorously protect our intellectual property which is the lifeblood of any technology company."

A number of the 22 claims in the patent generally focus on server-based anti-virus technology that intercepts data enroute from one destination to another, such as from an Internet site to a computer inside a local network. Certain claims are specifically directed to such technology used in connection with electronic mail. The patented protection system also isolates high-risk data types for virus scanning, and performs preset actions - such as blocking a transfer - if a virus is discovered.

Trend Micro’s lawsuit is the second recent claim of infringement against McAfee. Last month, Symantec sued McAfee for copyright infringement in connection with the alleged piracy of software code used in McAfee’s PC Medic.

Trend Micro has recently emerged from its role as the leading provider of high-end server-based anti-virus technology resold or relicensed by such leading technology companies as Intel, Novell, Netscape and Sun Microsystems, to become a leading competitor in the anti-virus market under its own name.

Trend Micro has released six server-based anti-virus products in the past year under its own name, including InterScan VirusWall, Internet gateway virus protection for email, Web browsing and Internet downloading. The company also has released groupware virus protection for Lotus cc:Mail, Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes, and anti-virus for NetWare and Windows NT file servers. The multi-national company recently announced agreements with Tech Data and Ingram Micro for the distribution of its products in the United States and Canada.

Trend Micro’s InterScan VirusWall recently won the PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award in competitive reviews that included competitors WebShield from McAfee Associates and MIMESweeper from Integralis. A recent study by the National Software Testing Laboratory found that InterScan VirusWall processed email and other electronic traffic more than three times faster than WebShield and MIMESweeper.

In the federal lawsuit filed yesterday, Trend Micro is being represented by the law firm of Townsend, Townsend & Crew which has offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Seattle and Denver.

Portions of U.S. Patent No. 5,623,600 may be viewed on Trend Micro’s Web site at www.trendmicro.com.