Netskope, Inc. v. Fortinet, Inc.

I. BACKGROUND

The parties have been litigating since early 2022, when Netskope filed a complaint for declaratory judgment that it did not infringe upon several of Fortinet’s patents. Dkt. 1. Fortinet counterclaimed that Netskope was infringing. Dkt. 36. A detour to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for inter partes review stayed the case in 2023 and removed several patents from contention. Dkts. 73, 75, 83. The stay lifted in late 2024, dkt. 84, and the Court entered a case management order providing a year for discovery, set to close on November 7, 2025. Dkt 90. In January 2025, Fortinet served its Infringement Contentions (“ICs”) and claim charts on Netskope pursuant to Patent Local Rule 3-1. In February 2025, Netskope sent Fortinet a letter asserting that the ICs and claim chart did not comply with the Patent Local

Rules because they were insufficiently specific and did not put Netskope on notice of Fortinet’s theories of infringement for the accused patents. Dkt. 226-3, Ex. B. Fortinet wrote back with arguments to the contrary. Dkt. 226-4, Ex. C. The parties’ disagreement carried forward as they proceeded through discovery. Netskope produced technical docu-…