Tiny Hilgraeve Inc, Monroe, Michigan-based communications software company, has filed a patent infringement suit against McAfee Associates Inc and Symantec Corp. Hilgraeve alleges that both companies offer products that employ an in-transit virus detection technology for which it was granted a patent in 1994. The development work for the technology was done in 1989 using IBM computer virus data, and IBM itself has since licensed the technology. Hilgraeve says that Symantec and McAfee failed to respond to license offers in 1996, resulting in the current legal action. The technology in question was developed by Hilgraeve in response to the concern over internet worms in the late 1980’s. The company saw that the need for detecting virus signatures in files that are moving across networks was strong and set about tackling the problem. Hilgraeve, which stresses that it is not a security software company, has included in-transit virus detection – called HyperGuard – in its communications software since the early 90’s. It also makes the HyperTerminal program included in Windows 95 and NT 4.0. Hilgraeve is a private company with 26 employees which says its revenues are in the millions, but not tens of millions. The patent infringement suit seeks an immediate injunction against the two defendants, unspecified damages and legal costs. Matt Gray, president and co-founder of Hilgraeve, says he would like to see the matter settled quickly and painlessly and feels that it could well turn out that way.
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