HP Buys SPI Dynamics, Settles Cenzic Patent Dispute

Hewlett-Packard has settled two outstanding patent suits by reaching a patent-sharing agreement with Cenzic, a neighboring Santa Clara, Calif., supplier of security software. The original suits were between Cenzic and SPI Dynamics, a company that HP acquired a month ago.

HP and Cenzic have signed a cross-licensing agreement on their mutually disputed patents, an outcome often resorted to when two strong patent holders sue each other.

"This agreement settles the outstanding litigations filed by SPI Dynamics ... and Cenzic ... and these lawsuits will be immediately dismissed," said a brief statement issued by Cenzic. Cenzic company officials declined further comment to InformationWeek.

SPI Dynamics filed suit against Cenzic in October 2006. It claimed Cenzic was using a security testing program that SPI had received a patent on in February 2006. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, where SPI Dynamics is based.

Earlier this year, Cenzic filed suit against SPI Dynamics in U.S District Court in Alexandria, Va., charging patent infringement. HP acquired SPI Dynamics four days after Cenzic's suit was filed July 27.

Cenzic is the supplier of the Hailstorm security assessment suite. HP had already integrated SPI Dynamics' application security assessment into its HP Quality Center software at the time of the acquisition.