Software company Splunk has filed an appeal after a California federal judge declined to overturn or modify a jury verdict that found a rival infringed its copyrighted software but awarded only nominal damages.
The appeal was lodged Wednesday, shortly after U.S. District Judge William Alsup rejected posttrial motions from both Splunk and defendant Cribl. In its notice, Splunk said it is challenging multiple aspects of the ruling, including the judge’s refusal to grant judgment as a matter of law or order a new trial.
Background of the Dispute
The case stems from a jury verdict issued in April 2024. Jurors concluded that Cribl infringed Splunk’s copyright on certain software components, that the infringement was willful, and that Cribl breached a licensing agreement known as the Splunk General Terms, or SGT, license. Despite those findings, the jury awarded Splunk just $1 in damages.
At the same time, the jury determined that Cribl’s copying of Splunk Enterprise, Splunk’s data storage and analytics platform, qualified as fair use. That conclusion significantly limited Splunk’s recovery.
