WSOU Investments, LLC (d/b/a Brazos Licensing and Development) appears to be ending 2020 doing what it has been doing all year: filing multiple Western District of Texas suits against the same defendant, this time Salesforce (6:20-cv-01163; 6:20-cv-01164; 6:20-cv-01165; 6:20-cv-01166; 6:20-cv-01167; 6:20-cv-01168; 6:20-cv-01169; 6:20-cv-01170; 6:20-cv-01171; 6:20-cv-01172). Targeting the Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, as well as various related services and features, WSOU asserts in each complaint a single patent received from Nokia (including Alcatel-Lucent) since 2017, per its by-now familiar pattern.
WSOU closed out 2019 adding hundreds more Nokia patents to the over 4,000 assets that it received (from Nokia itself) in 2017. Further details concerning those assets, as well as background on the formation of WSOU, can be reviewed at "Amid Its Barrage of Networking Cases, WSOU Records Another Acquisition from Nokia" (April 2020). WSOU has now asserted over 120 of those patents, a majority comprising a single-member family and none of which has been previously litigated.
The patent asserted in the -163 case (7,551,731) generally relates to providing "caller flexibility information of a calling terminal" in a network. It issued to Alcatel-Lucent in June 2009 and has an estimated priority date in August 2004. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of Salesforce Communities.
The patent asserted in the -164 case (8,209,411) issued to Nokia in June 2012 and has an estimated priority date in June 2004. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce CRM platform. The '411 patent generally relates to transmitting content from a first "network environment" to a "second network environment".
The patent asserted in the -165 case (8,280,928) generally relates to "generating a multi-level hierarchical directory structure and establishing relationships between descriptors". It issued to Alcatel-Lucent in October 2012 and has an estimated priority date in March 2009. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce Sales Cloud service.
The patent asserted in the -166 case (8,335,819) issued to Nokia in December 2012 and has an estimated priority date in December 2009. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce mobile app. The '819 patent generally relates to a "scripting file" that supports client-side caching.
The patent asserted in the -167 case (8,369,827) generally relates to determining a "unique subscriber record" from a "set of subscription identifiers". It issued to Alcatel-Lucent in February 2013 and has an estimated priority date in June 2010. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce Customer 360 Data Manager.
The patent asserted in the -168 case (8,391,892) issued to Nokia in March 2013 and has an estimated priority date in February 2002. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce Service Cloud. The '892 patent generally relates to managing access to "presence-related" information.
The patent asserted in the -169 case (8,923,899) generally relates to a "conversion system" between a web application and a packet-switched network. It issued to Alcatel-Lucent in December 2014 and has an estimated priority date in June 2011. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce MobileConnect API.
The patent asserted in the -170 case (9,088,493) issued to Nokia Technologies in July 2015 and has an estimated priority date in September 2009. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Journey Builder tool. The '493 patent generally relates to tracking a user's online service usage and scheduling the transmission of a message to the user based on the pattern of usage.
The patent asserted in the -171 case (9,277,060) generally relates to presenting "contextual information" when a user receives an incoming telephone call. It issued to Nokia Technologies in March 2016 and has an estimated priority date in June 2006. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of the Salesforce Service Cloud, with the integration of certain computer-telephony integration (CTI) systems at issue.
The patent asserted in the -172 case (9,336,320) issued to Nokia Technologies in May 2016 and has an estimated priority date in February 2010. Salesforce is accused of infringement through the provision of Salesforce Communities. The '320 patent generally relates to providing an interface with options for various services based on a device's location information.
WSOU has filed its suits against Salesforce in the Western District of Texas, where District Judge Alan D. Albright presides over each matter. Huawei, the first defendant hit by WSOU, filed an answer to all of the previous 12 complaints filed against it in mid-September this year. ZTE was next; it responded to each of its 11 complaints in October, while Microsoft, the third defendant, filed answers to all 12 complaints against it in early August or September. Dell answered each of its 12 complaints on October 5, Alphabet (Google) answered each of the 15 complaints against it in mid-September, and HPE answered all of its seven complaints in late October. In November, Juniper Networks answered five of its seven complaints and Xilinx responded to each of its five complaints. Arista Networks, BBK Electronics (OnePlus), Canon, F5 Networks, NEC, and TP-Link have yet to answer or file a response to their respective complaints. 12/18, Western District of Texas.
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