Symantec, now known as NortonLifeLock Inc, has been ordered by a federal court to pay $185.1 million as royalty from sales for infringing malware patent laws of Columbia University willfully.
According to the details shared with the media by Virginia Federal Court, the trustees of an educational institution issued a legal notice to Norton in Dec’13 for using six of its patents meant for intrusion detection.
In mid-2014, Norton responded to the legal notice as an allegation that was false and baseless.
But a Virginian federal court announced on Monday that Norton infringed two malware detection patents related to Columbia University and so has to a portion of royalties from the year sales as a penalty for infringing products without legal authorization.
Actually, the judge was requested to raise the penalty to $555m as Norton infringed the patents knowingly. And was using the products in and outside the US on a commercial note.
The lawsuit stressed the fact that two professors of the University were actually the inventors of an intrusion detection technology that offers bait to viruses, that now is being used by Norton.
So, the federal jury asked the Cybersecurity firm to mention the names of the two professors as joint inventors of the patent that was now being used by the firm on an international note.
Additionally, a specific amount fixed by the court will also be forwarded to the accounts of the two professors as compensation for sales royalties gained from the use of malware decoy technology.
Note- Arizona-based Norton has raised its voice against the court hearing and has been given a 3 weeks time frame to go for an appeal.
