CNCF

$3,000 for Valtrus Innovations' patent prior art targeting open source software Kubernetes

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 8,379,538, owned and asserted by Valtrus Innovations Ltd., an NPE and a New PP Licensing LLC entity. The '538 patent relates to using a machine-readable monitoring model to store and maintain the configuration of a monitoring environment. A monitoring element reads that model and automatically adjusts how it operates based on the defined configuration. It has been asserted against Kubernetes implementations within applications owned or created by SAP America. Both Starbucks and Google have filed declaratory judgment actions against the ‘538 patent.

The contest will expire on July 10, 2026. 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. 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 Valtrus '686

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 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.

Contest & Winning Submissions

Pankaj Kumar was awarded $3,000 for their prior art submission on 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.

WINNING PATENT SUBMISSIONS - DOWNLOAD WINNING CHART

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

$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