Insincere Licensing Discussions Can Support A Willful Infringement Claim

A recent order from the Northern District of California provides patent practitioners interesting guidance regarding conduct during licensing discussions—and may be a cautionary tale to potential licensors engaged in efficient infringement. In Finjan, Inc. v. SonicWall, Inc., 5-17-cv-04467, the court denied the defendant SonicWall's motion to dismiss the plaintiff Finjan, Inc.'s ("Finjan") willfulness allegations. Finjan alleges both that SonicWall infringes ten of Finjan's patents covering behavior-based and antimalware security, and also that SonicWall's infringement was willful because it engaged in insincere licensing discussions in order to intentionally delay the infringement litigation.