Splunk Files Intellectual Property Lawsuit Against Cribl

SAN FRANCISCO – October 05, 2022 – Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK), the data platform leader for security and observability, today announced that it filed a lawsuit against Cribl in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging patent infringement, copyright infringement, unfair competition, and other claims. The complaint alleges that Cribl infringes numerous Splunk copyrights and patents, and has unlawfully misappropriated Splunk source code and confidential materials.

Splunk’s complaint alleges that Clint Sharp, CEO and Co-founder of Cribl, founded Cribl using code that he took from Splunk when he was a Splunk employee without permission or a license to do so. Splunk further alleges that Cribl and Mr. Sharp encouraged Splunk employees, who they recruited to Cribl, to misappropriate confidential technical and business documents from Splunk. Moreover, Splunk alleges that since then, Cribl has developed and marketed its software by, among other things, making unlicensed copies of Splunk’s copyrighted software, and is willfully infringing numerous patents awarded to Splunk by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

According to the complaint, Cribl is “a business built on the back of Splunk’s labor and intellectual property, without license and without regard for ethics, the rights of others, or the law.” The complaint explains further that unfortunately Cribl’s actions left Splunk no choice but to file this lawsuit. While Splunk is disappointed that Cribl’s behavior and wrongdoing have forced it to take this action, Splunk is confident the judicial process will determine that Cribl has infringed and misappropriated Splunk’s intellectual property for Cribl’s own benefit. This case is about Cribl’s misconduct. Splunk is not changing how it works with customers and partners, and looks forward to continuing to help them leverage Splunk to drive great insights and effective results.

Splunk has long been a pioneer and leader in the data platform industry, as evidenced by the well over 1,000 patents that have been granted to Splunk by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Splunk remains committed to protecting the foundational innovations that define its reputation and brand.

For additional information regarding Splunk’s lawsuit against Cribl, please visit the Splunk blog.