F5 Sues A10

Data center fight: F5 Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV) claims A10 Networks Inc. is infringing its patents.

We think they should settle their differences more peacefully. Maybe meet at the G-20 summit and get the B-52s to play.

But, no, they've gone to court.

The amusing part of F5's very short court complaint are the allegations that A10 has been gunning for F5 all along. A10 "adopted its name as a play, or allusion to, F5's corporate name," the complaint reads.

And the supposed copycat behavior doesn't stop there. "A10 has repeatedly attempted to emulate the products and services of F5, to the point of having in the past, directed customers to F5's website for information as to how to use the A10 products," the suit says.

As for the patents, there are two under dispute. No. 7,102,996 has to do with the scaling of network traffic managers -- specifically, the way packets are routed between clients and servers. No. 7,395,349 is a sequel that involves the scaling of traffic managers.

F5 filed the suit April 15 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading