Citrix files suit against Workspot claiming patent infringement

Citrix claims Workspot has infringed at least four Citrix patents

Citrix has filed suit against Workspot, a smaller rival offering what it describes as a collaborative cloud platform, claiming patent infringement and false advertising.

Citrix claims that "Workspot's intentional inclusion in their VDI platform of proprietary features", infringes at least four of its patents.

Citrix believes that these patented features are core to its XenApp and XenDesktop products, which are important differentiators for the company.

"We took this action only after serious consideration and multiple attempts to inform Workspot of the false and misleading nature of their public statements, Citrix said in a blog post.

"Workspot, however, chose to continue to mislead the market and has continuously used Citrix patented features of our XenApp and XenDesktop products and cloud services without permission or licence."

Citrix explained that Workspot has engaged in what it calls "frequent and substantial mischaracterisations" of XenApp and XenDesktop and it is these which have unfairly and intentionally misled the market about Citrix's features and the performance of their products.

"At Citrix, we value innovation and have a proven track record of delivering world-class innovation to our customers and partners around the world," the firm added

"Our foundational innovations in application virtualisation and remoting protocols date back to the early ‘90s, are still at the core of our XenApp and XenDesktop products and cloud services today, and were even licensed to Microsoft in the second-half of the ‘90s to form the basis of their remote desktop protocol."

These two cloud products are said to be protected by more than 3,500 issued and pending patents, so it's no wonder Citrix has some patents ready and waiting to be infringed.

Citrix took the time and effort to explain in its post that the lawsuit isn't just about the money, asserting that it has always welcomed competition.

"We have never viewed, and never will view, competition alone as a reason to litigate," the firm added.

"But competition must be fair - uncompensated exploitation of core patented features that our engineering and product teams worked hard to create over decades is simply unfair and unreasonable - regardless of the size of the competitor.

"For us, it comes down to a simple set of values."