VMware hit with $84.5 million verdict in US retrial over software patents

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) - VMware Inc must pay $84.5 million for infringing two patents belonging to rival software company Densify, a Delaware federal jury said on Monday.

The verdict, made public Tuesday, said VMware willfully violated Densify's patent rights with its software for optimizing "virtual machines" used in cloud computing.

A VMware spokesperson declined to comment on the verdict, citing active litigation.

Densify CEO Gerry Smith said the company was "grateful" for the verdict, which "validated the hard work of our inventors."

Canada-based Densify won a verdict worth nearly $237 million against VMware in the same case in 2020.

A federal judge threw out that verdict and ordered a new trial later that year. Densify's patent-holding subsidiary owned the patents at issue, and Judge Leonard Stark said the parent company did not have sufficient rights to the patents to be involved in the case at the time.

Densify accused Palo Alto, California-based VMware's vROps, vSphere and other software of infringing patents covering "virtualization" technology that enables multiple computer systems to run on a single server.

The lawsuit alleged that VMware used Densify's technology as a "blueprint" for its own. Densify said VMware "dominates the virtual infrastructure market" and that it could "outspend Densify and swamp Densify's marketing and sales" if its infringement is not stopped.

VMware argued it did not infringe and that the patents were invalid. It later filed its own patent infringement lawsuit against Densify, which is still ongoing.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)