Cogent Systems, Inc. v. Northrop Grumman Corporation

Analysis Group client Cogent Systems has accepted a $25 million offer from Northrop Grumman Corporation to end litigation related to the latter's misuse of Cogent's proprietary technology and trade secrets for fingerprint identification software. Northrop Grumman will also pay Cogent $20 million during the course of a five-year research, development, services, and products agreement, and will pay Cogent an additional $15 million for a nonexclusive license to use the fingerprint ID software.

Cogent's legal counsel from Hennigan Bennett & Dorman and Parker Milliken retained Analysis Group to analyze royalty damages issues. Our analysis included an examination of party and industry licensing practices; the nature of several strategic alliances; the economic advantages of the proprietary information at issue; and the variety of factors that contribute to marketplace success. Managing Principal John C. Jarosz, who submitted an expert report and testified at deposition, was supported by a team led by Principal Robert L. Vigil.

Cogent Systems provides biometric identification systems to governments, law enforcement agencies, and commercial users. The technology in question related to software used in the IDENT1 fingerprint identification system used in the United Kingdom.