Legal Battle over ClamAV – Open Source Community Asked to Help
US software vendor, Barracuda Networks, is looking to fight a software patent claim by Trend Micro with support from the Open Source community.
The root of the legal dispute is a patent by Trend Micro covering an anti-virus solution in combination with a firewall or gateway. The opponent in the legal dispute is the security vendor Barracuda, which uses the free ClamAV anti-virus software in its own products.
The disputed Trend Micro patent #5.623.600 from 1995 describes the technology in a very generic way stating that the 600 patent searches the network gateway for viruses and other undesirable software. At the same time, because viruses can be embedded in content (such as email attachments and other web content), the 600 patent searches the content.
Software patents of this kind, which are often referred to as trivial due to their generic wording, are contentious in Europe, but a generally accepted business basis in the USA. Barracuda Networks is looking to contest the patent and regards the current case as a precedent in which it calls on the Open Source community to give support.
Under US legislation a patent can be declared invalid if the contester is able to prove that the technology it describes was known as prior art to the patent being assigned. This is why Barracuda Networks is looking for comprehensive evidence of this prior to September 26 1995, the date on which Trend Micro applied for its patent. The prior art in this case mainly comprises an antivirus scanner in combination with a firewall or a gateway. This could be software code, but also advertising material, other publications, or references to websites. Barracuda Networks has set up a separate website which describes both the legal dispute and the material sought for.
Barracuda Networks submitted an action for declaratory judgment in the spring of 2007 with the aim of having the patent ruled invalid. In response, Trend Micro submitted a counter claim. November 20, Trend Micro contacted the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and submitted a claim agains Barracuda and a second company, Panda Software International, with the aim of securing license payments or forcing the two companies to discontinue use of ClamAV. Trend Micro describes the object of the claim as follows: "ClamAV software is written, at least in part, by ClamAV developer team members located in Europe and Australia". Trend Micro thus concludes that the contentious software is imported by Barracuda, and the ITC can only rule on questions concerning imported goods. In a recent press release, Barracuda's CEO, Dean Drako responded saying: "Barracuda Networks designs and manufactures all of the products in question in the United States." The ITC would thus be the wrong address for the complaint, and Barracuda could again focus on its original objective of attempting to invalidate the software patent.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.