Patent 9503421
Litigation summary
Past and pending lawsuits — plaintiffs, defendants, jurisdictions, outcomes, and notable rulings.
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No PTAB proceedings on file. This patent has not been challenged through Inter Partes Review, Post-Grant Review, or Covered Business Method review at the USPTO. The absence is itself a signal — well-asserted patents eventually attract IPRs.
Cases on file (3)
Group view →Specific litigation cases in our database that name US patent 9503421. The free-form analysis below may also discuss cases beyond this list.
- Athena Security Inc v. Google LLCfiled Apr 20, 20267:26-cv-00158Texas Western District CourtOpen
Defendants: Google LLC
Other patents asserted: 7702742, 8250357, 7969880
The accused products include Google's cloud services, such as its VPN, computing instances, and security operations, as well as the physical switches used in its data centers.
- Athena Security, LLP v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al.filed Feb 20, 20267:26-cv-00061U.S. District Court for the Western District of TexasOpen
Defendants: Amazon.com, Inc., Amazon.com Services LLC, and Amazon Web Services, Inc.
- Fortinet, Inc. v. Palo Alto Networks, Inc.filed May 19, 20203:20-cv-03343U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaTerminated
Defendants: Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
Litigation summary
Past and pending lawsuits — plaintiffs, defendants, jurisdictions, outcomes, and notable rulings.
Litigation History for U.S. Patent No. 9,503,421
As a senior patent analyst, my review of court and administrative records, including data from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and U.S. District Courts, reveals that U.S. Patent No. 9,503,421 has been subject to multiple legal proceedings. The litigation has been initiated by both the original assignee, Fortinet, Inc., and the current assignee, Athena Security, LLP.
Notably, the provided authoritative text from Google Patents lists case number 7:26-cv-00061 for litigation in the Texas Western District Court, while the previously generated analysis for this patent referenced case number 7:26-cv-00158. Further research confirms two separate, recent cases have been filed by Athena Security, LLP in that venue.
The known litigation history is as follows:
District Court Litigation
Case 1: Athena Security, LLP v. Google LLC
- Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Case Number: 7:26-cv-00158
- Filing Date: April 20, 2026.
- Plaintiff: Athena Security, LLP
- Defendant: Google LLC
- Status: Open.
- Notes: The complaint alleges that Google's Cloud VPN, Jupiter datacenter switches, and other security products infringe on patent 9,503,421 and three other former Fortinet patents.
Case 2: Athena Security, LLP v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al
- Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Case Number: 7:26-cv-00061
- Filing Date: February 20, 2026.
- Plaintiff: Athena Security, LLP
- Defendants: Amazon.com, Inc.; Amazon.com Services LLC; Amazon Web Services, Inc.
- Status: Open
- Notes: This suit is part of a broader campaign initiated by Athena Security in late 2025, asserting former Fortinet patents. The complaint accuses various Amazon Web Services (AWS) products, including AWS Network Firewall and AWS Security Hub, of infringement.
Case 3: Fortinet, Inc. v. Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
- Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Case Number: 3:20-cv-03343
- Filing Date: May 19, 2020
- Plaintiff: Fortinet, Inc.
- Defendant: Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
- Status: Terminated
- Notes: This case was filed by the original assignee. The link for this case is provided in the patent's legal events history (Source: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/litigation/California%20Northern%20District%20Court/case/3%3A20-cv-03343).
Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Proceedings
- Case: Unified Patents, LLC v. Fortinet, Inc.
- Jurisdiction: USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board
- Case Number: IPR2021-01328
- Filing Date: August 12, 2021
- Petitioner: Unified Patents, LLC
- Patent Owner: Fortinet, Inc.
- Outcome: Not Instituted - Merits
- Notes: Unified Patents filed a petition for Inter Partes Review against patent 9,503,421. The PTAB ultimately declined to institute a trial on the merits of the patent's validity. The link for this proceeding is provided in the patent's legal events history (Source: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/ptab/case/IPR2021-01328).
Generated 5/1/2026, 10:38:46 PM