eSoft, Inc. Files Patent Infringement Lawsuits Against Five Companies Seeking Damages Related to Software Management System

15 March 2006

eSoft, Inc., a leading vendor of integrated Internet security and content management solutions, announced today that it has filed patent infringement lawsuits in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado against Astaro Corporation, Barracuda Networks, Blue Coat, Fortinet and SonicWall for the infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,961,773 relating to software management technology.

Titled "System and Method for Managing Application Service Providers," the patent is directed to software management systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for selecting, ordering, installing, managing, updating, and if necessary, uninstalling software applications provided to an entity by one or more application service providers or other sources. eSoft was awarded the patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on November 1, 2005.

eSoft is seeking to stop the companies from marketing, selling, using or otherwise infringing the patent and also seeks damages relating to their unauthorized use of eSoft's patented technology.

"eSoft has invested heavily in its software management system technology," said Jeff Finn, CEO of eSoft. "We are seeking to protect our vital corporate assets and development investments by taking legal action against companies that we believe are infringing this patent."

About eSoft Inc.

eSoft is a leading provider of integrated Internet security solutions offering organizations of all sizes unparalleled protection from dynamic Internet-based threats. eSoft's award winning InstaGate(TM) and ThreatWall(TM) platforms offer high-performance Deep Packet Inspection security services including Firewall, IPSec VPN, Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, Anti-Spyware, Intrusion Prevention, Web Content Filtering, Email Content Filtering and even Web, Email, File and FTP servers. eSoft solutions are based on purpose-built hardware platforms and optional security software modules called SoftPaks(TM), which are distributed and maintained through eSoft's patented SoftPak Director(TM) technology. Overall, the eSoft solution offers the IT manager extreme simplicity and flexibility when deploying and managing network security, resulting in less time demands on IT staff, a reduced need for in- house security expertise, and a lower total cost of ownership.

Source: prnewswire

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