SEATTLE and SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the leading provider of Application Traffic Management products, and NetScaler, Inc., the application intelligent networking company, today jointly announced the settlement of a patent dispute surrounding F5 Networks' "Cookie Persistence" patent that enables key capabilities for traffic management and load balancing products. As part of the settlement, F5 and NetScaler will enter into a cross-license agreement where NetScaler will license the F5 Cookie Persistence patent and F5 will license a NetScaler patent; NetScaler will also pay F5 an undisclosed licensing fee.

"NetScaler's interest in licensing our Cookie Persistence patent is an important validation of the value this patent holds within the industry and of the technology we create at F5," said John McAdam, president and CEO of F5 Networks. "This settlement between F5 and NetScaler helps to protect F5 Networks' intellectual property."

In October 2002, F5 was awarded the patent for its Cookie Persistence technology - U.S. Patent No. 6,473,802 entitled, "Method and System for Storing Load Balancing Information with an HTTP Cookie," which enables key capabilities for any traffic management and load balancing product. F5's patented Cookie Persistence technology uses an HTTP cookie stored on the customer's computer to allow the customer to reconnect to the same server previously visited at a Web site. For example, Cookie Persistence allows a traffic management device to direct the customer to the server that stored the customer's shopping cart information, allowing the customer to complete the transaction. Without Cookie Persistence, the traffic management device could direct the customer's request to a different server, which may not know about the customer and the customer's shopping cart status.

As part of the settlement, F5 will receive a license to the NetScaler patent entitled, "Internet Client-Server Multiplexer" - U.S. Patent No. 6,411,986; received June 2002 - that frees servers from processing loads and improves the performance of network infrastructure.

"NetScaler is pleased to have settled on this matter and enter into this cross-licensing agreement," said B.V. Jagadeesh, president and CEO of NetScaler. "Given the strengths of our core technologies, our customers will ultimately be the winners with this mutually beneficial agreement, which protects both parties' intellectual property."

NetScaler Inc.

F5 Networks Inc.