SAN JOSE — Defense lawyers for Arista Networks Inc. on Thursday tried to paint sister company OptumSoft Inc. as a failure, willing to make a grab for Arista's intellectual property as a last-ditch effort to save itself.

The two companies have been working together practically since their inception in 2004. Arista, which went public last year, has a market cap of more than $4 billion. OptumSoft, according to testimony from its CEO, is valued at about $300,000.

OptumSoft has never turned a profit and instead is hemorrhaging millions of dollars a year, company president and CEO Henk Goosen conceded during cross-examination. The company has taken in a little more than $300,000 in revenue since it was founded in 2004, Goosen testified, but it spends about $3 million a year. It employs about 20 engineers and has four customers, including Arista.