PATROLL

$3,000 for Valtrus data security patent prior art

Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $3,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 7,904,686, owned and asserted by Valtrus Innovations Ltd., an NPE. The '686 patent describes a method and apparatus for enhancing data security within a file system. The invention addresses shortcomings in existing data security by offering an alternative to traditional encryption-decryption methods and online licensing checks, which can be time-consuming, confusing, or insufficient for preventing unauthorized file reconstruction. The patent has been asserted against Apache Hadoop implementations within applications owned or created by The Home Depot, NetApp, and FedEx.

The contest will expire on December 1, 2025. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for the contest. PATROLL researchers are required to use Pearl to generate claim charts. Submitted invalidity charts must address every limitation of the challenged claim. This may require using more than one prior art reference. PATROLL researchers are required to use Pearl to initially generate claim charts, and then researchers must add relevant figures and highlighting before submitting each chart. Each PATROLL researcher can generate up to 30 invalidity claim charts per month using Pearl. These charts can be downloaded then submitted to PATROLL.

This PATROLL contest is co-sponsored by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and is a part of a continuing series of contests in their Cloud Native Heroes Challenge program. Cloud native developers can earn swag and prizes by helping us defeat patent trolls. Find more information on CNCF and the challenges within the links below:

$3,000 awarded for Cloud-Native Heroes Challenge - prior art found on Proxense '640

Unified Patents and Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) are pleased to announce the winning prior art submissions in the Cloud Native Heroes Challenge, a patent troll bounty program. The results of this contest demonstrate the benefits of engaging open source developers and technologists with domain expertise in the fight against patent trolls.

We would like to thank the dozens of high-quality submissions that were made on these patents. The ongoing contests are open to anyone and offer tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests. Visit PATROLL today to learn more about how to participate.

Contest & Winning Submissions

Jake Winter was awarded $3,000 for his prior art submission on claim 17 of U.S. Patent 11,095,640, owned and asserted by Proxense LLC, an NPE. The '640 patent focuses on a system and method for securely and automatically authenticating users to access data or applications, notably through radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic authentication technologies. The patent has been asserted against Hyundai.

WINNING PATENT SUBMISSIONS - DOWNLOAD WINNING CHART

Find more information on CNCF and the prior art challenges within the links below:

$3,000 awarded in second Cloud-Native Heroes Challenge on PATROLL

Unified Patents and Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) are pleased to announce the winning prior art submissions in the second Cloud Native Heroes Challenge, a patent troll bounty program. The results of this contest demonstrate the benefits of engaging open source developers and technologists with domain expertise in the fight against patent trolls.

This challenge sought prior art that can be used to challenge U.S. Patent 11,178,104, owned and asserted by Croga Innovations Ltd., an NPE and entity of Atlantic IP Services. The ‘104 patent describes a host computer system designed to enhance network security. The primary goal is to securely access Internet-based cloud services through authenticated and firewalled isolation. The patent has been asserted against IBM.

We have selected a combination of patents as the winning prior art for this contest. U.S. Patent Publication 2011/296487A1 and U.S. Patent 10,855,725. Ritu Tyagi and Nikko Quevada will share the $3,000 cash prize for their submissions.

We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent. The ongoing contests are open to anyone and offer tens of thousands of dollars in rewards available for helping the industry to challenge NPE patents of questionable validity by finding and submitting prior art in the contests. Visit PATROLL today to learn more about how to participate.

WINNING PATENT SUBMISSION

DOWNLOAD WINNING PRIOR ART

Use AI to submit PATROLL Claim Charts for FREE

PATROLL contestants can now use Pearl, Unified Patents’ AI-based tool, to create invalidity claim charts faster and more efficiently than if they were creating them by hand. 

Pearl can use prior art from patents, standards documents, product descriptions, scientific literature, or non-patent literature, and maps these references, including the citations, to each patent limitation in a table format that can be exported into Word, PDF, Excel or CSV format. 

Going forward, PATROLL researchers will be required to submit invalidity charts that address every limitation of the challenged claim. This may require using more than one prior art reference.

PATROLL researchers are therefore strongly encouraged to use Pearl to generate claim charts. Each PATROLL researcher can generate up to 30 invalidity claim charts per month using Pearl. These charts can be downloaded then submitted to PATROLL.

Visit Unified’s website for more information on how to use Pearl. Visit our Help Center on how to become a PATROLL researcher.

$2,000 for Eric Zautner entity, Navog, GPS patent prior art

Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 10,593,205, owned and asserted by Navog LLC, an NPE and entity of Eric Zautner. The '205 patent relates to a GPS monitoring and alarm system that would warn truckers, bus and RV drivers, approaching underpasses, bridges, viaducts, tunnels, and other structures of insufficient clearance for their vehicle. It has been asserted against Garmin, TeleType Co., and Sygic.

The contest will expire on March 31, 2025. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for this contest.