SAN FRANCISCO — The clock has run out for an inventor going after Palo Alto Networks Inc. for allegedly stealing his trade secrets for firewall technology, a federal judge has ruled.
Qiang Wang, an architect and design engineer who specializes in network security, claimed a former Palo Alto Networks executive gained his trust and stole his trade secrets, which were later incorporated into a patent obtained by the Santa Clara-based company. But the allegations reached back years, and U.S. District Judge William Alsup found that Wang had produced no new revelations to freshen them up. In a 16-page order issued Friday, he granted Palo Alto Networks’ motion for summary judgment on the trade secrets claim.
