Eastern District of Texas Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne last week recommended denial of a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by DigitalDoors, Inc. against Frost Bank for inadequate pleading. Clarifying that it is not making a “standard-essential argument” concerning the patents asserted in this campaign, the plaintiff targets “interconnected storage systems” that “operate as a single controlled apparatus to provide secure data vaulting . . . as specified by Sheltered Harbor or its operational equivalent”. The day of the court’s report, DigitalDoors filed new complaints in the Western District of Texas, one against each of Amarillo National Bank (7:25-cv-00102), Broadway Bancshares (7:25-cv-00103), International Bancshares (Commerce Bank) (7:25-cv-00105), Northern Trust (7:25-cv-00106), Pinnacle Bank (7:25-cv-00107), South Plains Financial (City Bank Texas) (7:25-cv-00104), Texas Capital Bancshares (Texas Capital Bank) (7:25-cv-00108), US Bancorp (WestStar Bank) (7:25-cv-00110), VBT Financial (Vantage Bank Texas) (7:25-cv-00109), and Western Alliance Bank (Alliance Association Bank, Bank of Nevada, Bridge Bank, First Independent Bank, Torrey Pines Bank) (7:25-cv-00111).

American Express (1:24-cv-05574), Ameris Bank (1:24-cv-05576), Colony Bank (1:24-cv-05578), FirstBank (1:24-cv-05579), PNC Financial Services (RBC Bank) (1:24-cv-05580), Renasant Bank (1:24-cv-05582), ServisFirst Bancshares (1:24-cv-05583), Southstate Bank (1:24-cv-00585), Synovus Financial (Synovus Bank) (1:24-cv-05587), and US Bank (United Community Bank) (1:24-cv-05588) are the latest defendants to be added to the sole litigation campaign of DigitalDoors, Inc., launched in November 2022 with a suit against IBM. In the new Northern District of Georgia complaints, the defendants are targeted over the use of data processing systems compliant with the Sheltered Harbor specification, or those that otherwise “provide substantially equivalent functionality” for “providing data backup of critical customer account data” based on certain content filters, allegedly as claimed in the asserted four patents.

DigitalDoors, Inc. has filed another round of Eastern District of Texas complaints, hitting Cadence Bank National Association (2:24-cv-00311), Cathay General Bancorp (Cathay Bank) (2:24-cv-00312), Cullen/Frost Bankers (Frost Bank) (2:24-cv-00315), First Horizon (First Horizon Bank) and Iberia Bank (2:24-cv-00313), First National Bank of Nebraska (First National Bank (Omaha)) (2:24-cv-00314), Origin Bancorp (Origin Bank) (2:24-cv-00316), PNC Financial Services (PNC Bank National Association) (2:24-cv-00317), Simmons First National (Simmons Bank) (2:24-cv-00319), UMB Financial (UMB Bank NA) (2:24-cv-00320), and Wells Fargo (2:24-cv-00310). The financial institution defendants are targeted over the use of data processing systems compliant with the Sheltered Harbor specification, or those that otherwise “provide substantially equivalent functionality” for “providing data backup of critical customer account data” based on certain content filters, allegedly as claimed in the asserted four patents.

Last November, DigitalDoors, Inc. filed its first litigation, suing IBM for alleged infringement of a group of patents broadly directed to various aspects of data security technologies. As that case passes the one-year mark, the inventor-controlled plaintiff has started a second litigation campaign, this time suing Bank of America (2:23-cv-00542), Bank OZK (2:23-cv-00543), Beal Bank (2:23-cv-00544), BOKF (2:23-cv-00545), Capital One Financial (Capital One) (2:23-cv-00546), Comerica (Comerica Bank) (2:23-cv-00541), East West Bank (2:23-cv-00547), First Citizens Bancshares (First Citizens Bank and Trust) (2:23-cv-00548), JP Morgan Chase (2:23-cv-00550), Prosperity Bancshares (Prosperity Bank) (2:23-cv-00551), and Regions Financial (Regions Bank) (2:23-cv-00552), all over the use of data processing systems compliant with the Sheltered Harbor specification, or those that otherwise “provide substantially equivalent functionality” for “providing data backup of critical customer account data” based on certain content filters, allegedly as claimed in the asserted four patents.

Since late last year, RPX has flagged three batches of security agreements—each batch covering six different patent portfolios—all apparently involving the same third-party funder. Of the 18 funded patent portfolios, all but one has spawned new litigation campaigns, four having started last month. Meanwhile, public records provide hints as to the possible identity of the funder here—helpful hints, since the plaintiffs litigating in the Northern District of California or the District of New Jersey have apparently skirted, so far, respective disclosure requirements in those venues.

Inventor-controlled NPE DigitalDoors, Inc. has kicked off its first campaign with an Eastern District of Texas suit against IBM (2:22-cv-00457). The plaintiff asserts a group of five patents broadly directed to various aspects of data security technologies, with the defendant accused of infringement through the provision of the IBM Cloud Object Storage products and services. As RPX has elsewhere reported, DigitalDoors is one of 18 patent holders that appear to have made arrangements with the same funder, 17 of them having launched litigation to date.