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McDermott Wins Victory for Extreme Networks in High-Profile Patent Infringement Case

Specifically, McDermott successfully persuaded the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin to find in favor of Extreme Networks. The jury found no infringement by Extreme Networks for any of the dozen accused products in the case, Extreme Networks, Inc. v. Enterasys Networks, Inc.

"We are delighted by this win for our client, Extreme Networks, which hopefully puts an end to years' worth of meritless litigation in Wisconsin," said David H. Dolkas, an Intellectual Property partner at McDermott Will & Emery who served as lead counsel in the trial. "Charges of patent infringement against a large product family can be particularly harmful to any company's bottom line. We are pleased that the McDermott team was able to marshal the resources necessary to make sophisticated and often complex legal arguments that won the day. McDermott's IP Litigation practice prides itself on its ability to litigate such cases, and to successfully defend our clients against infringement claims."

The case dates from April 2005, when Enterasys Networks sued Extreme Networks for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Extreme Networks then filed suit against Enterasys in 2007 in the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging patent infringement relating to policy-based quality of service in computer networks. Enterasys Networks denied the infringement charges and counterclaimed for infringement of three of its own patents relating to network switches and routers.

Since that time, McDermott secured a series of infringement wins for Extreme Networks, which were then appealed by Enterasys Networks to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On September 30, 2010, the Federal Circuit affirmed the findings of the Western District of Wisconsin's prior judgment on a jury verdict in Extreme Networks favor upholding the jury's finding that Enterasys Networks infringed three of Extreme Networks patents and that the patents are valid. The Federal Circuit remanded the case to the District Court for jury trial on one of Enterasys Networks patents, which resulted in last week's victory.

Extreme Networks of Santa Clara, Calif., founded in 1996, is a publicly traded company that designs networks for the mobile world. From the converged mobile edge of enterprises to virtualized clouds, and from data centers to global carrier networks that backhaul mobile traffic, Extreme Networks' extensible services architecture helps set a foundation for mobility, user awareness and faster performance to empower people and machines to connect and move seamlessly.

In addition to Mr. Dolkas, the McDermott trial team included Intellectual Property Litigation partners Margaret Duncan, David Larson, and Keith Stolte. Intellectual Property partner Terrence McMahon, who has a 10-year relationship with Extreme Networks, was intimately involved in the overall trial strategy and in supporting the team in Madison, Wisconsin. Also assisting the team were associate Ryan Phelan and paralegals Jamie Berger and Gayle Dissen.

With 185 attorneys around the world, McDermott's Intellectual Property practice is renowned for its broad trial, appellate and prosecution experience. More than 125 members of McDermott's intellectual property team hold technical and/or scientific degrees and more than 100 are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). McDermott's Intellectual Property practice includes numerous lawyers with valuable industry experience as well as former USPTO examiners and petition specialists.

About McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Extending our reach to Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

(c) 2011 McDermott Will & Emery. McDermott Will & Emery conducts its practice through separate legal entities in each of the countries where it has offices. This communication may be considered attorney advertising. Previous results are not a guarantee of future outcome.

McDermott Will & Emery
Christopher Rieck, +1 212 547 5367
crieck@mwe.com
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Chad Torbin, +1 202 756 8419
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