DataCloud Technologies, LLC

With a new District of Delaware suit against SonicWall (1:24-cv-00978), DataCloud Technologies, LLC, an entity associated with Georgia monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC, is in active litigation against Acer, Namecheap, Palo Alto Networks, Thales (Imperva), and Zscaler, as well as SonicWall. The asserted patents here, received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), generally relate to either file management or network communications, with infringement allegations targeting the provision of a wide array of products and underlying functionality, including mobile apps, website infrastructure, network security systems with certain role management features, and firewalls with static NAT configuration features.

So far in July, DataCloud Technologies, LLC, an entity associated with monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has added suits, both in the Eastern District of Texas, against Palo Alto Networks (2:24-cv-00482) and Zscaler (2:24-cv-00504) to the litigation campaign that it began back in June 2020. Six patents are asserted against Palo Alto Networks, four against Zscaler, all six of them received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) and generally related to either file management or network communications. The new defendants are accused of infringement through the provision of products ranging from firewalls to website infrastructure solutions.

After adding separate cases against Allied Telesis and Samsara to its campaign over file management and/or network communications patents sourced from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), plaintiff DataCloud Technologies, LLC has sued HP (1:24-cv-00067) and Western Digital (1:24-cv-00156), both in the District of Delaware. Extensions of the deadline to respond to a new complaint are often routinely granted, to facilitate investigation of the allegations and resolution of the dispute in the earliest stages, but a relatively unusual denial was entered in one of DataCloud’s recent cases.

Last month, DataCloud Technologies, LLC, an IP Investments Group LLC plaintiff, added cases against first Samsara (1:23-cv-05514), in the Northern District of Georgia, and then Allied Telesis (1:23-cv-01451), in the District of Delaware, to the litigation campaign begun back in June 2020. The patents-in-suit, sourced from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), generally relate to either file management or network communications. In connection with the Samsara case, filed in a district that requires heightened disclosure, DataCloud discloses another Georgia LLC tied to IPinvestments Group as owning ten percent or more of its stock but certifies that it knows of no “other persons, associations, firms, partnerships, or corporations” that have a financial or other interest that “could be substantially affected by the outcome of this particular case”.

DataCloud Technologies, LLC, a plaintiff associated with Georgia monetization firm IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has sued Sophos (2:23-cv-00508) in the Eastern District of Texas over a wide array of products, ranging from its Android mobile app to the Sophos Central platform. The plaintiff asserts five patents, each received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV), broadly directed to file management or network communications. Since launching its sole litigation campaign in June 2020, the NPE has sued nearly 30 defendants, including 8X8, Arista Networks, Box, Charter Communications, Extreme Networks, F5 Networks, Squarespace, and Trend Micro.

Trend Micro (6:23-cv-00289) is the latest defendant to be added to the sole litigation campaign that DataCloud Technologies, LLC, a plaintiff associated with Georgia monetization firm IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), launched in June 2020 over patents received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). In the new Western District of Texas complaint, the plaintiff asserts five of those patents, with Trend Micro accused of infringement through the provision of a wide array of products, including mobile apps, security software, website infrastructure, and websites implementing TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.2 or 1.3.

For three weeks in a row, DataCloud Technologies, LLC has added a new case to its litigation campaign asserting a subset of the patents that it received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in January 2020. The plaintiff sued A10 Networks (1:22-cv-01644) at the end of last year, hitting first Datto (1:23-cv-00019) and then 8x8 (1:23-cv-00050) and Barracuda Networks (1:23-cv-00072) since. Up to four such patents are at issue in each complaint, two broadly directed to file management and the others, to wireless communications. Various web, network and software products have been targeted in this campaign, which began back in June 2020.

Hanger Solutions, LLC, an IP Investments Group LLC (d/b/a IPInvestments Group) NPE, has sued Charter Communications (6:22-cv-00070) in the Western District of Texas over the provision of Spectrum Web Services and certain VMware products. Asserted are the same three patents in Delaware complaints filed against Extreme Networks (last January) and Squarespace (last May). The new complaint appears to be a draft document, rather than a finished document, with alleged, inadvertent transpositions in pleadings filed by Hanger’s “sister” NPE DataCloud Technologies, LLC already featuring rather prominently in that campaign.

Altice, together with its subsidiary CSC Holdings, has filed three complaints in the District of Delaware, one each against CommWorks Solutions, LLC (1:21-cv-01323); DataCloud Technologies, LLC (1:21-cv-01321); and DigiMedia Tech, LLC (1:21-cv-01322), all associated with Georgia patent monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group). The complaints seek declaratory judgments of noninfringement and invalidity of various patents that the named NPEs acquired from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) and have apparently asserted via letters sent over the course of the last 18 months. The NPEs are among several to have launched litigation from thousands of US assets flowing out of IV over the past couple of years.

DataCloud Technologies, LLC, an NPE associated with Georgia monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has filed suit against Charter Communications (6:21-cv-00662) in the Western District of Texas. The seven asserted patents, one of which is new to litigation, are broadly directed to various aspects of content delivery and network management. The NPE’s infringement allegations target the provision of a wide variety of products (e.g., cloud computing services, mobile apps, routers, SIM Cards, and website building and management tools). DataCloud is among several NPEs to have launched campaigns from the over 3,800 US assets flowing out of Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in late 2020 to entities associated with the Georgia monetization firm.

DataCloud Technologies, LLC, an NPE associated with Georgia monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group), has expanded the campaign that it launched in June 2020, with suits against Arista Networks (1:21-cv-00155), Limelight Networks (1:21-cv-00170), and Squarespace (1:21-cv-00164) in the District of Delaware. The nine patents-in-suit, asserted in overlapping sets, are broadly directed to file management, networking, or wireless communications. The defendants are accused of infringement through the provision of a variety of hardware and software products related to networking, content delivery, cloud computing, and/or web design and hosting. DataCloud is among several NPEs to have launched campaigns from the over 3,800 US assets flowing out of Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) in late 2020 to entities associated with the Georgia monetization firm.

RPX data indicate that since 2016, NPEs have collectively launched over 80 separate litigation campaigns asserting patents received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). Meanwhile, the outflow of patents from IV persists, and divestments executed last year (primarily during the fourth quarter of 2019) continue to be recorded with the USPTO—many preceding the start of new NPE campaigns.

Another IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group) entity in possession of patents recently received from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) has become a plaintiff. Last week DataCloud Technologies, LLC sued Box (1:20-cv-00763), Extreme Networks (1:20-cv-00764), and F5 Networks (2:20-cv-00872) over the provision of various network hardware and software. The new DataCloud campaign joins several others arising from the over 3,800 US assets flowing out of IV in November and December to entities associated with the Georgia monetization firm: an automotive campaign started by 21ST CENTURY GARAGE LLC; a wireless communications campaign litigated by CDN Innovations, LLC; networking litigation launched by CommWorks Solutions, LLC; and a digital camera campaign brought by DigiMedia Tech, LLC.

In mid-May, RPX reported on the connection between a bushel of the Georgia LLCs in receipt of thousands of patent assets divested by Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) to that state’s monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group). Now, several of those LLCs have filed suit, with CDN Innovations, LLC opening up a wireless communications campaign; CommWorks Solutions, LLC, networking litigation; and DigiMedia Tech, LLC, a digital camera campaign. It may not be long before the others pick patents to assert in litigation of their own.

A series of annual statements filed in Georgia have identified an executive at Atlanta-based patent monetization firm IPInvestments Group LLC (d/b/a IPinvestments Group) as an “Authorized Person” for a group of NPEs that collectively acquired thousands of patent assets from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) late last year. Meanwhile, this past week saw the first outbound assignment by one of those Georgia NPEs come to light, involving over 70 US assets—followed in short order by the new assignee’s inaugural patent suit, filed against Hyundai. Patents originating with Daimer Chrysler or Intel are among those asserted.

The late 2019 peel off by Intellectual Ventures, LLC (IV) of more than 3,500 US assets to a batch of Georgia NPEs has ousted Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC from its long-held position as the top NPE assignee of IV divestitures. Meanwhile, as discussed in RPX’s Q1 in Review blog post, throughout the first quarter, NPEs continued filing new litigation asserting patents received from IV, hitting a broad range of targets, including over patents developed by major operating companies.

Last week, RPX noted a series of late-2019 patent assignments from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV) to a batch of newly formed NPEs with apparent ties to an Atlanta law firm. With additional IV divestures to that group having since been made public by the USPTO, the scope of the transactions—which collectively involved upwards of 3,500 US assets, including many developed by major operating companies—is now coming into focus.

Public records suggest that a batch of newly formed NPEs, with apparent ties to an Atlanta law firm, are gearing up to assert multiple patent portfolios received late last year from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV). The transacted portfolios—which were divested by IV in mid-November—comprise hundreds of US assets, as well as a number of foreign counterparts, and include patents originating with operating companies spanning multiple industries.