Cloud computing is undergoing tremendous growth since the computing industry is gradually switching to the cloud. Companies are rapidly filing, selling, acquiring, licensing and monetizing cloud patents due to the growing importance of cloud systems. In patent lawsuits, these patents are now being more aggressively enforced.
Over the last few years, patent litigation for cloud computing has increased. To gain an edge in the market, organizations acquire and assert broad patents to sue competitors for infringing the patent claims. We present some of the high-value cloud computing patents which have high commercial value for patent owners in their patent portfolio as well as a threat to their competitors:

1. US8856221B2

The US’s 221 patent assigned to ROTHSCHILD BROADCAST DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS LLC describes a remote server system to receive a request message with media content and consumer device identifier corresponding to a consumer device. The processor determines that the consumer device identifier corresponds to the registered consumer device. The requested media content is available for storage when the request message is the storage request message and delivers media content to the consumer device.
Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems has already filed a patent infringement against Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems accused Zoom of infringing at least claim 7 of the’ 221.

2. US9098526B1

The US’526 assigned to SYNKLOUD TECHNOLOGIES LLC describes a wireless device that couples with a storage server across the wireless link to carry out a requested operation for remote access to assigned storage space in response to an operation performed by the user. The process for the remote access to assigned storage space comprises storage or retrieval of a data object. The data object is stored while downloading a file from a remote server across a network into the assigned storage space by utilizing download information for the file stored in cache storage to download the operation performed by the user.
Synkloud Technologies LLC has alleged that HP infringes US’526 patents using Microsoft Onedrive cloud storage in HP products.

3. US8606880B2

The US’880 assigned to SYNKLOUD TECHNOLOGIES LLC describes a method that involves facilitating a user from a web-browser of a targeted system via a network of local area network (LAN) and instructing the system to obtain file download information contained in a web page from a cached web page on the system. The accepted file download information is sent to a permitted targeted system via the network. A download request is received and sent to the remote web-site via the network. A downloading file stream is directly received from the remote web-site into a targeted system’s designated file system.
SynKloud has alleged that Dropbox infringes US’880 patents by using Dropbox servers that operate with client-side Dropbox software, which is connected through wireless networks including Dropbox Mobile Applications, Web browser interface and Desktop Applications.

4. US8762335

The patent US’335 assigned to COMMVAULT SYSTEMS INC describes a method that involves causing a security system to be queried to determine a user’s access rights, where the access rights relate to user’s rights to a production data file. Storage operation e.g. backup operation, is caused to be performed when the access rights permit the user to request the process, where the access rights allow a data management system to operate if the production data file is associated with a computer, e.g., server computer and the access right performing the storage operations is used to determine which data is accessed by the user within a group.
Commvault has already sued Cohesity for infringing the claims of this patent.

5. US9455961

The patent US’961 assigned to PASAFESHARE LLC describes a method that involves generating a protected document package (PDP), including encrypted content or a link. A PK is associated with a content presentation by an authorized user through a limited capability viewer (LCV). The authorized user is provided with a CCL compatible with the PK to enable presentation through LCV of locally stored encrypted content from PDP or link. The PK is identified by the content consumer license request (CCLR) to receive from a proposed authorized user. The CCL compatible with the PK toward the proposed authorized user is propagated.

6. US9615116

The patent US’116 assigned to PASAFESHARE LLC describes a method involves generating an encrypted file containing content or a link, and a publisher key associated with the presentation of content by an authorized user through a limited capability viewer (LCV). The generated encrypted file is propagated towards a user device. The authorized user is provided with a content consumer license (CCL) compatible with the encrypted publisher key.

7. US10095848

The patent US’848 assigned to PASAFESHARE LLC describes a method involving generating a protected document package at a server in communication with a network. The protected document package contains an encrypted content and a publisher key. A user device generates a content consumer license request.
PASAFESHARE LLC has filed a patent infringement suit alleging that Microsoft has infringed its US’961 patent, US’116 patent and US’848 patent.

8. US7725671

The patent US’671 assigned to CommVault Systems Inc. describes a method for providing redundant access to metadata over a network. The process involves receiving an indication to perform a copy operation on data objects and analyzing a metabase to identify the data objects in a data store that satisfies selection criteria. The selection criteria are based on the type of the identified data objects. The specified data objects are copied from the data store to another data store, and metadata, e.g., index data, associated with the data objects, are copied from the metabase to another metabase. The former metabase is updated with information describing the copied data objects after copying the identified data objects.

9. US7840533

The patent US’533 assigned to CommVault Systems Inc. describes a method for performing an image-level snapshot and restoring partial volume data. The technique involves performing a snapshot of an information store that indexes the contents of the store. The store contents are copied to a storage device using the snapshot, and a replication volume table indicating the storage of the contents of the store is updated using the snapshot on the storage device. Another snapshot of the store is performed and the processes are repeated.

10. US10210048

The patent US’048 assigned to CommVault Systems Inc. describes an agent with a processor for issuing a command to a hypervisor to perform snapshot copy operation for a selected one of a set of virtual machines operated by the hypervisor. The processor receives metadata corresponding to completed snapshot copy operation from the hypervisor and stores the metadata in a database, where the snapshot copy operation is performed for a selected one of the set of virtual machines without performing the snapshot copy operation for other unselected virtual machine in shared physical computer storage devices.

11. US10248657

The patent US’657 assigned to CommVault Systems Inc. describes a method for storing a secondary copy of the original data set on a cloud storage site using a cloud gateway. The technique involves buffering data for later transmission to a cloud storage site by storing a deduplicated set of data on the cloud storage site. A file system request is received to write a group of data to the cloud storage site, the group of data is added to a data buffer, a file system request is converted to application program interface calls associated with the cloud storage site, and contents of the buffer is transmitted to the cloud storage site using the application calls associated with the cloud storage site while repeating steps when the buffer is not full.

Note: Cohesity and Rubrik have been accused of infringing US’671, US’533, US’048 and US’657.

After analyzing these patents, we concluded that though these patents do not nearly mention any cloud computing keywords in the claims, the due to broad claim scope, low complexity in claims, application in the area of cloud services and they are easy to discover if any product or services uses them, make these patents of high commercial importance.

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