New Contest

$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:

$2,000 for Jeffrey M. Gross entity, Conexus, network security 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 10,812,497, owned and asserted by Conexus LLC, an NPE and entity of Jeffrey M. Gross. The '497 patent details systems and methods for detecting network security threats through application data flow and connection lineage tracing within enterprise, cloud, and IoT environments. It focuses on collecting connection and application execution information, tracking users, and machines involved to identify suspicious activities. It has been asserted against Splunk, Rapid7, and Wallarm.

The contest will expire on September 6, 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. Each PATROLL researcher can generate up to 30 invalidity claim charts per month using Pearl. These charts can be downloaded then submitted to PATROLL.

$3,000 for Proxense authentication patent prior art

Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $3,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least 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.

The contest will expire on July 31, 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:

$2,000 for Nostromo location-based 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 8,559,970, owned and asserted by Nostromo Holdings LLC, an NPE. The '970 patent is generally directed to providing location-based information and notifications to a user's device, based on location, user preference settings, and conditions for triggering the information delivery. It is being asserted against ADT, Resideo, Ecobee, Walgreens, Starbucks, Sephora, Macy’s, and Fibar USA.

The contest will expire on July 31, 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.

$3,000 for Jeffrey M. Gross entity, Calibrate Networks, Kubernetes/open source 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 9,584,633, owned and asserted by Calibrate Networks LLC, an NPE and a Jeffrey M. Gross entity. The '633 patent relates to a system for enhancing network communications by avoiding data copy, task switching, and simplifying protocol processing. It has been asserted against Kubernetes implementations within applications owned or created by Shopify, Box, Airbnb, and Blackberry.

The contest will expire on June 30, 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. 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: