Litigation support in cloud-hosted file sharing and collaboration

• US 10,346,937 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2016
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IntraLinks Incorporated (SS&C Technologies Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: IntraLinks Incorporated (SS&C Technologies Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ford, Christopher Todd
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Anthony D
• Application Number:
  US15/335,412
• Publication Number:
  US 20170046807A1
• Time in Patent Office: 986 Days
• Field of Search: 726 11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

In embodiments, the disclosure provides a method for managing content, including providing an electronic discovery facility of a secure data exchange environment, wherein at least one of a plurality of users of a first entity utilizes a network-based content storage service of a second entity to store content, and wherein the storage and access of the content with the network-based content storage service is tracked by the electronic discovery facility. The method includes receiving, at the electronic discovery facility, a discovery request, the discovery request comprising a request for a legal counsel of a third entity to access content stored on the network-based content storage service, the discovery request being, for example, in association with a litigation discovery action in relation to the first entity. Further, the method includes identifying and securing, by the electronic discovery facility and as a result of the discovery request, at least one item of content on the network-based content storage service; and providing, by the electronic discovery facility of the secure data exchange environment, access to the identified and secured item of content stored on network-based content storage service to the legal counsel of the third entity.

Claims

1. A method for managing content, the method comprising:

providing an electronic discovery facility of a secure data exchange environment, wherein at least one of a plurality of users of a first entity utilizes a network-based content storage service of a second entity to store content, and wherein the storage and access of the content with the network-based content storage service is tracked by the electronic discovery facility;

receiving, at the electronic discovery facility, a discovery request, the discovery request comprising a request for an agent of a third entity to access content stored on the network-based content storage service, wherein the agent is at least one of a legal counsel, a legal agent, a paralegal, a legal assistant, a law clerk, a judicial agent, a law enforcement agent, a government agent, an outside counsel, an internal counsel, an internal agent, an auditor, an accountant, a forensic accountant, and an expert witness;

identifying and securing, by the electronic discovery facility and in response to the discovery request, at least one item of content on the network-based content storage service of the second entity; and

providing, by the electronic discovery facility of the secure data exchange environment, access to the identified and secured item of content stored on the network-based content storage service to the agent of the third entity, wherein the discovery request is in association with at least one of an investigation, a lawsuit, an arbitration, a mediation, an audit, and a dispute in relation to the first entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic discovery facility is hosted by at least one of the first entity, the second entity, and the third entity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein electronic discovery facility tools are integrated into an administrator interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein electronic discovery facility tools are provided as part of a user application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic discovery facility provides searching tools for the identifying and securing of content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the searching tools search content repositories both inside a firewall and outside a firewall of the first entity for relevant content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the securing of the content is the placing of a legal hold on the content.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the legal hold prevents the content from being at least one of modified and destroyed.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is information rights management encoded, and the information rights management encoding enables the identifying and securing of the content.

10. A system for managing content, the system comprising;

a network-based content storage service on a host computer for storing content of a first entity and controlled by a second entity; and

an electronic discovery facility in a secure data exchange environment for tracking the storage and access of the content of the first entity that is stored with the network-based content storage service;

wherein the electronic discovery facility is enabled to receive a discovery request comprising a request for an agent of a third entity to access content stored on the network-based content storage service, to identify and secure at least one item of content of the first entity on the network-based content storage system, and to provide access to the identified and secured content to the agent of the third entity, and wherein the discovery request is in association with at least one of an investigation, a lawsuit, an arbitration, a mediation, an audit, and a dispute in relation to the first entity, and wherein the agent is at least one of a legal counsel, a legal agent, a paralegal, a legal assistant, a law clerk, a judicial agent, a law enforcement agent, a government agent, an outside counsel, an internal counsel, an internal agent, an auditor, an accountant, a forensic accountant, and an expert witness.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the electronic discovery facility is hosted by one of the first entity, the second entity, and the third entity.

12. The system of claim 10, further including electronic discovery facility tools integrated into an administrator interface.

13. The system of claim 10, further including electronic discovery facility tools provided as part of a user application.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the electronic discovery facility provides searching tools for the identifying and securing of content.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the searching tools search content repositories both inside and outside a firewall of the first entity for relevant content.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the securing of the content is the placing of a legal hold on the content to prevent the content from being at least one of modified and destroyed.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the content is information rights management encoded, and the information rights management encoding enables the identifying and securing of the content.

18. A method for managing a networked secure collaborative computer data exchange environment, the method comprising:

establishing, by a secure exchange server controlled by an intermediate entity, a client login data authentication procedure that allows at least one client computing device of a plurality of client computing devices operated by users of a plurality of entities to access the secure exchange server, wherein communication between the secure exchange server and the plurality of client computing devices is through a communications network;

storing, by the secure exchange server, at least one client login authentication data for each of the plurality of client computing devices;

receiving first content from a first device of the plurality of client computing devices;

permitting, by the secure exchange server, access to the first content for a subset of the plurality of computing devices through an exchange content access facility, wherein the exchange content access facility is managed by at least one of the plurality of entities and the intermediate entity;

granting, by the secure exchange server, access to the first content to a second device of the plurality of client computing devices when the secure exchange server receives from the second device its client login authentication data provided that the second device is one of the subset of the plurality of computing devices;

providing an electronic discovery facility of the secure exchange server, wherein at least one of the plurality of client computing devices utilizes a network-based content storage service to store second content, and wherein the storage and access of the second content with the network-based content storage service is tracked by the electronic discovery facility;

receiving, at the electronic discovery facility, a discovery request, the discovery request comprising a request for an agent of a third entity to access second content stored on the network-based content storage service, wherein the agent is at least one of a legal counsel, a legal agent, a paralegal, a legal assistant, a law clerk, a judicial agent, a law enforcement agent, a government agent, an outside counsel, an internal counsel, an internal agent, an auditor, an accountant, a forensic accountant, and an expert witness;

identifying and securing, by the electronic discovery facility and as a result of the discovery request, at least a portion of the second content on the network-based content storage service; and

providing, by the electronic discovery facility of the secure data exchange server, access to the identified and secured second content stored on network-based content storage service,

wherein the discovery request is in association with at least one of an investigation, a lawsuit, an arbitration, a mediation, an audit, and a dispute.

19. A system for managing content, the system comprising:

a secure exchange server controlled by an intermediate entity and having a client login data authentication procedure that allows at least one client computing device of a plurality of client computing devices operated by users of a plurality of entities to access the secure exchange server, wherein communication between the secure exchange server and the plurality of client computing devices is through a communications network, wherein the secure exchange server stores at least one client login authentication data for each of the plurality of client computing devices and stores first content received from a first device of the plurality of computing devices;

an exchange content access facility in communication with the communications network which allows access to the first content for a subset of the plurality of computing devices, and wherein the exchange content access facility is managed by at least one of an entity of the plurality of entities and the intermediate entity, and wherein the secure exchange server grants access to the first content to a second device of the plurality of client computing devices when the secure exchange server receives from the second device its client login authentication data provided that the second device is one of the subset of the plurality of computing devices;

a network-based content storage service on a host computer for storing second content of one of the plurality of client computing devices; and

an electronic discovery facility for tracking the storage and access of the second content that is stored with the network-based content storage service;

wherein the electronic discovery facility is enabled to receive a discovery request for an agent of a third entity to access the second content stored on the network-based content storage service, wherein the agent is at least one of a legal counsel, a legal agent, a paralegal, a legal assistant, a law clerk, a judicial agent, a law enforcement agent, a government agent, an outside counsel, an internal counsel, an internal agent, an auditor, an accountant, a forensic accountant, and an expert witness, to identify and secure at least a portion of the second content network-based content storage system, and to provide access to the identified and secured second content portion, and wherein the discovery request is in association with at least one of an investigation, a lawsuit, an arbitration, an audit, a mediation, and a dispute.