Cisco wins reversal of $2.75 bln damages award because judge’s wife owned stock

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday threw out a more than $2.75 billion award against Cisco Systems Inc , saying the trial judge should have disqualified himself after learning that his wife owned Cisco stock.

The 3-0 decision by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals was also a defeat for Centripetal Networks Inc, a Virginia company that had sued Cisco for damages and royalties for allegedly copying five cybersecurity patents.

The trial judge, U.S. District Judge Henry Morgan in Norfolk, Virginia, found Cisco liable for patent infringement in October 2020, two months after learning that his wife owned 100 Cisco shares worth $4,688.