Parity Networks, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc.

Parity Networks LLC has doubled the number of active suits in the campaign that it began back in November 2016, adding Central District of California cases against EdgeCore (8:20-cv-00699), Moxa (8:20-cv-00698), and Unizyx (ZyXEL) (8:20-cv-00697). Those suits join ongoing litigation in cases brought earlier this year against Aviat Networks (6:20-cv-00057), D-Link (6:20-cv-00093), and Mellanox Technologies (6:20-cv-00051) in the Western District of Texas. The asserted patents, asserted in overlapping sets, broadly concern various aspects of network traffic management, with infringement allegations aimed at the defendants’ switch products.

Parity Networks LLC has filed suit against Dell (EMC) (6:19-cv-00550) in the Western District of Texas over the provision of certain networking hardware and software, including the Dell EMC PowerSwitch series network switches and the “Dell EMC Networking OS10” network hardware operating system. This new suit in a campaign that began with late 2016 cases filed against Nokia (Alcatel-Lucent) and Juniper Networks follows by several days the dismissal with prejudice of a case against Palo Alto Networks. The four patents-in-suit, as well as over a dozen asserted throughout the campaign, generally relate to various aspects of network traffic management.

NPE Parity Networks LLC has recently beaten back motions to dismiss its two March 2019 cases in the Western District of Texas against Cisco for pleading inadequacies. In a single order dated on July 26 and entered on the docket of both cases, District Judge Alan D. Albright ruled that Parity’s pleading with respect to direct infringement, indirect infringement, and willful infringement are all sufficiently adequate to survive an early challenge. In response, Cisco promptly filed answers to the two live complaints against it—and Parity Networks filed a third complaint, accusing Cisco (6:19-cv-00458) of infringing three more network traffic management patents from its portfolio, these three new to litigation. Cisco is again accused of infringement through the provision of an overlapping set of network hardware operating systems (Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS XR, Cisco IOS XE, and Cisco NX-OS) offering various network traffic management features as well as certain routers, including, in the new complaint, Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS) routers.

Parity Networks LLC has added two Western District of Texas suits against Cisco (6:19-cv-00207, 6:19-cv-00209) to its network traffic management campaign. In the first case, the NPE asserts three patents for the first time, together with the only patent familiar to the litigation yet to be challenged before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). All four patents at issue in the second case have been previously asserted and challenged in a petition for inter partes review (IPR). Cisco’s accused products include various network hardware operating systems (Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS XR, Cisco IOS XE, and Cisco NX-OS) offering various network traffic management features as well as switches and/or routers running that software.