SAN FRANCISCO, June 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lynwood
Investments CY Limited has sued F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), a
number of former employees of Russia-based Rambler Internet Holding LLC,
their associates, and two major venture capital firms, in
the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California in San
Francisco, in a dispute concerning the NGINX web server
software business enterprise. The NGINX software helps run an
estimated 450 million websites around the world. Lynwood seeks damages of at least $750 million in the action.
In May 2019, F5 Networks paid
$670 million to acquire the
NGINX-based enterprise from NGINX, Inc., a company formed in 2011
by former Rambler employees Maxim
Konovalov and Igor Sysoev,
and others, prior to their departure from Rambler. The NGINX
web server software is used to operate an estimated 450 million web
sites worldwide.
The lawsuit, however, alleges that Lynwood, not NGINX, Inc., F5 Networks or the
other named defendants, is the rightful owner of the NGINX
enterprise, including the NGINX software and related commercial
software offerings known as NGINX Plus, through an assignment from
Rambler.
The NGINX software was developed principally by defendant
Igor Sysoev and other former Rambler
employees during the course of their employment with Rambler,
located in Moscow, from 2001 to
2011. The suit alleges that the NGINX software and related
proprietary extensions thereto, including NGINX Plus, constitute
works for hire owned by Rambler, and now Lynwood as Rambler's assignee.
According to the complaint filed by Lynwood, the underlying facts giving rise to
the suit were discovered after a whistleblower currently residing
in the U.S. disclosed the misconduct in 2019. Lynwood then conducted its own extensive
investigation, including a forensic analysis, to verify the
whistleblower's revelations before filing suit. The
investigation revealed evidence that the former Rambler employees
had gone to great lengths to hide their plans and efforts to take
the NGINX software and related enterprise and monetize it for their
own benefit, without Rambler's knowledge, consent or participation,
the complaint states.
Named defendants in the suit include F5 Networks, Konovalov,
Sysoev, Andrey Alexeev, former
Rambler employees Maxim Dounin and Gleb
Smirnoff, NGINX, Inc. and related entities, Angus Robertson, formerly an executive at NGINX,
Inc. and now with F5 Networks, as well as Silicon Valley venture
capital firms Runa Capital and E.Ventures.
Lynwood is a seasoned
international holding company that invests in a variety of
industries across Europe. Lynwood and its affiliates held substantial
ownership stakes in Rambler, and Rambler has assigned its ownership
of the NGINX software and the related NGINX enterprise to
Lynwood, together with the claims
alleged in the lawsuit. The assignment was approved by the
Rambler board of directors.
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SOURCE Lynwood Investments CY Limited