Crossroads Systems, Inc.

The second quarter of 2017 saw the financial decline of three publicly traded NPEs—Crossroads Systems, Inc.; Marathon Patent Group, Inc.; and Inventergy Global, Inc.—all of which have struggled in the aftermath of agreements signed with Fortress Investment Group LLC.

In a major setback for publicly traded NPE Crossroads Systems, Inc., the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has invalidated two of the NPE’s patents (6,425,035; 7,051,147) in a series of inter partes reviews (IPRs) brought by Cisco, Oracle, NetApp, and Quantum. Along with Huawei, the petitioners had been targeted by Crossroads in lawsuits filed in late 2013/early 2014 that asserted the challenged patents along with two others (7,934,041; 7,987,311). Those cases were stayed by District Court Judge Sam Sparks in June 2015 pending IPR of all four of the patents-in-suit.

Crossroads Systems Inc. filed three new suits against Cisco, NetApp, and Quantum Corporation this week. Crossroads alleges that SAN switches and arrays manufactured by the defendants infringe two patents related to network storage devices and virtual local storage (6,425,035, 7,934,041). In late 2013, Crossroad sued Dell, Huawei, Oracle, and Tandberg Data. Those cases are currently ongoing. RPX reviewed the patents in an open market opportunity in April 2012. 2/18, Texas Western District Court, 1:14cv00148, 1:14cv00149, 1:14cv00150

Crossroads Systems filed suit against Oracle asserting three patents related to network storage devices that offer virtual local storage (6,425,035; 7,051,147; 7,934,041). Crossroads has filed numerous patent suits dating back to 2000. RPX reviewed the patents in an open market opportunity in April 2012. Crossroads is an operating company that appears to have had financial difficulties over the last few years. Most of the entity’s recent press releases relate either to financial troubles or to its licensing efforts. 10/7, Western District of Texas, 1:13cv00895