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Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 1 of 28 PageID #: 1
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`COMMVAULT SYSTEMS, INC.,
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`COHESITY INC.,
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`v.
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`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
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`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
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`Plaintiff,
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`Defendant.
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`C.A. No. ______________
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`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
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`Plaintiff Commvault Systems, Inc. (“Commvault” or “Plaintiff”) brings this action for
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`patent infringement against Defendant Cohesity Inc. (“Cohesity” or “Defendant”) as follows:
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`NATURE OF THE ACTION
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`1.
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`Commvault is a pioneer of modern data storage and information management,
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`introducing to market many revolutionary features for use in data centers and enterprise
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`infrastructure configurations worldwide. Since its founding in 1996, Commvault has led the
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`industry in the developing technologies critical to ensure the secure availability and management
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`of the massive amounts of data that has become the lifeblood of companies operating in this
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`information age.
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`2.
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`Commvault has, through more than two decades of continuous research and
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`development and investment, been at the forefront of such market-changing innovations as cloud
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`integration, virtual machine protection, snapshots, indexing and search, deduplication, and
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`policy-based data management. Commvault’s software and services integrate these novel
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`features and provide users with the highest levels of flexibility and cross-compatibility,
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`protecting data while reducing costs and labor and improving system “uptime” in the face of data
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`failures.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 2 of 28 PageID #: 2
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`3.
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`Commvault typically spends between $65 and $100 million dollars per year in
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`research and development and has invested over a billion dollars in research and development
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`since its inception. Given the ever-evolving systems and sheer amounts of data that fuel the
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`modern economy, Commvault’s investment in innovation, and its commitment to support the
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`same, has ensured the secure management and perpetual availability of the critical data most
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`companies need to do business—a focus and commitment to which Commvault adheres to this
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`day.
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`4.
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`Recognizing the importance of Commvault’s contributions to the data storage and
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`management industry, the United States Patent Office has awarded Commvault almost 800
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`United States patents for its myriad inventions. Protection of such innovations is core to the
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`roots of the United States, finding its genesis in the Constitution itself.
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`5.
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`Cohesity is a newcomer to the data storage and protection industry. Capitalizing
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`on Commvault’s innovations and the market that Commvault pioneered, Cohesity introduced its
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`first product, Data Platform, in 2015. Since then, Cohesity has repeatedly adopted and
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`impermissibly appropriated Commvault-patented inventions, as part of Cohesity’s introduction
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`of cloud archive integration, virtual machine protection, and policy-based security restrictions,
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`among other proprietary features, to its products. Through its infringement, Cohesity has
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`wrongfully short-circuited the research-and-development process, minimized the investment
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`necessary to have competitive products, and forced Commvault to compete against its own
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`inventions.
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`6.
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`This action seeks to prevent Cohesity’s continued misappropriation and use of
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`certain of Commvault’s patented innovations and to compensate Commvault for Cohesity’s past
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`repeated acts of infringement. Specifically, Cohesity has infringed, continues to infringe,
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 3 of 28 PageID #: 3
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`contributes to the infringement of, and induces the infringement by others of at least one claim of
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`each of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,725,671, 7,840,533, 8,762,335, 9,740,723, 10,210,048, and
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`10,248,657 (collectively, the “Asserted Patents”) at least by making, using, selling, offering for
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`sale, and importing into the United States data management products and services that infringe
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`one or more claims of each of the Asserted Patents.
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`7.
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`The infringing Cohesity products include, but are not limited to, Cohesity’s
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`“hyperconverged node” infrastructure products, including, for example, its DataPlatform,
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`DataProtect, CloudArchive, Cohesity DataPlatform VM Backup, and Helios software products,
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`and related products and services as identified and described in greater detail in Counts I-VI
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`(“Accused Products”) below.
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`THE PARTIES
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`8.
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`Commvault is a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business at 1
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`Commvault Way, Tinton Falls, New Jersey 07724.
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`9.
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`On information and belief, Defendant Cohesity Inc. is a Delaware corporation
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`with a principal place of business at 300 Park Ave #1700, San Jose, CA 95110. Cohesity can be
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`served through its registered agent, the Corporation Service Company, 251 Little Falls Drive,
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`Wilmington, Delaware 19808.
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`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
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`10.
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`This is a civil action for patent infringement arising under the patent laws of the
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`United States, 35 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq.
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`11.
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`This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the matters asserted herein under
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`28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a).
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`12.
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`This Court has personal jurisdiction over Cohesity because Cohesity is
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`incorporated in Delaware.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 4 of 28 PageID #: 4
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`13.
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`Under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), venue is proper in this judicial district because
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`Cohesity is incorporated in Delaware.
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`FACTUAL BACKGROUND
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`Technology Overview
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`14.
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`Large and medium-sized businesses maintain vast amounts of data. E-mails, chat
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`programs, websites, network-shared files, applications, databases—all of these services
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`continuously generate valuable data. Businesses rely on this data to support their clients, their
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`employees, or even to keep the lights on. Copies are often generated from this data to ensure
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`availability when needed. Generating and maintaining these copies allow organizations to
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`maximize uptime by preventing loss of operation in response to service disturbances, data
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`breaches, and catastrophic failures (e.g., malware or ransomware attacks), server or disk failures,
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`failed upgrades, or other unplanned outages. For example, using these generated and maintained
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`copies of data, an organization’s production data lost in a disturbance or attack can be restored to
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`the time and state of its last generated copy. Historically, organizations worked with an
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`amalgam of companies whose products were expected to work together to provide full coverage
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`for protection of their production data—for example, products that individually performed
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`backup and restore, archiving, cloud integration, and malware protection. More recently,
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`organizations have begun using consolidated software and/or service offerings to substantially
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`improve the ease and efficiency by which these data protection operations are performed.
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`Commvault
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`15.
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`Commvault can trace its beginning to 1988 as a development group of Bell Labs
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`and a business unit within AT&T Network Systems. In the late 1980s, long-distance telephone
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`calls were not serviced by a single company: a telephone call originating in New York and
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`terminating in Los Angeles usually traversed several telephone carriers’ networks along the way.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 5 of 28 PageID #: 5
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`AT&T provided long-distance services, connecting, for example, the originating carrier to the
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`terminating carrier across the country. To provide these services, AT&T received daily updates
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`to its system. If an update caused a switching error, that meant that other carriers were unable to
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`place long-distance calls using the switching network, and AT&T was required to pay a penalty
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`to the carriers. Because these frequent updates and the related risk of error were a critical
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`business need, the group created software to back up (and, if necessary, to quickly restore) the
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`previous day’s instance of the switching system.
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`16. With the computer revolution of the late 1980s and early 1990s, businesses began
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`to digitize their records—again creating a need in the market for efficient and reliable backup
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`software. Recognizing this need, this earlier development group was incorporated as Commvault
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`in 1996 for the purpose of helping to create and lead an industry that enables its customers, large
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`and small, to use the heterogeneous computer hardware that already occupies their datacenters to
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`securely and efficiently manage their data.
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`17.
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`From humble beginnings, Commvault has evolved into a multinational business
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`with revenue last fiscal year of approximately $700 million. Starting with just a handful of
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`employees, Commvault has grown to having over 2,700 employees with over 1,400 engineers
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`who are tasked with research, development and support of its innovative products and services.
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`Commvault maintains over fifty offices in over 30 countries that serve over 30,000 customers.
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`Commvault solutions manage over half an exabyte—over half a billion gigabytes—in the cloud
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`alone and an exponentially higher amount when including data stored on its customers’ own
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`equipment. Commvault’s products became and have remained among the best-selling and
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`technologically advanced data management suites available on the market.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 6 of 28 PageID #: 6
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`18.
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`The industry repeatedly has recognized Commvault’s technological achievements
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`and advancements in the marketplace. In each of the last eight years, Commvault has been
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`named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup and Recovery—a
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`recognition given to companies in a market space determined by Gartner’s analysts not only to
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`execute well against their current vision but to also be well positioned for tomorrow. For the last
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`three years, Commvault has also been named a Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for
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`Data Center Backup and Recover Solutions. Commvault has also received a GOLD award in the
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`Backup and Disaster Recovery, Hardware, Software and Services category by TechTarget’s
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`Storage magazine, and was listed as one of SearchStorage’s 2019 Products of the Year.
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`Cohesity
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`19.
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`Cohesity was founded in June 2013. Like Commvault, Cohesity offers data
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`storage and management services for on-premises, cloud, and mixed environments. Cohesity
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`presents its products as offering a “Hyperconverged Infrastructure.”1 Although Cohesity has
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`derived numerous marketing names and terms for its various product features and offerings
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`associated with this “consolidated solution,” whether by design or coincidence, they infringe at
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`least Commvault’s U.S. Patent Nos. 7,725,671, 7,840,533, 8,762,335, 9,740,723, 10,210,048,
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`and 10,248,657.
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`COUNT I: INFRINGEMENT OF U.S. PATENT NO. 7,725,671
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`20.
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`Commvault incorporates by reference and re-alleges all the foregoing paragraphs
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`of this Complaint as if fully set forth herein.
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`21.
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,725,671 (the “’671 Patent”), entitled “System and Method for
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`Providing Redundant Access to Metadata over a Network,” was duly and legally issued by the
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`1 E.g., https://www.networkworld.com/article/3207567/what-is-hyperconvergence.html.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 7 of 28 PageID #: 7
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`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 25, 2010. The ’671 patent is generally directed to a
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`system and method for data classification to facilitate and improve data management within an
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`enterprise. For example, the claimed systems and methods evaluate and define data management
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`operations based on data characteristics, such as metadata, rather than data location, allowing for
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`an increase in the precision and efficiency of enterprise storage operations. Anand Prahlad,
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`Jeremy A. Schwartz, David Ngo, Brian Brockway, and Marcus S. Muller are the named
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`inventors. Commvault is the original and current owner by assignment of all right, title and
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`interest in the ’671 Patent. A true and correct copy of the ’671 Patent is attached hereto as
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`Exhibit A.
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`22.
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`On information and belief, Cohesity has directly infringed, continues to infringe,
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`and/or, at least as of the date of this Complaint, induces or contributes to the infringement by
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`others of one or more claims of the ’671 Patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale,
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`and/or importing into the United States, without authority or license, for example, the Cohesity
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`“hyperconverged node” appliances such as the C2300, C2500, C3000, C4000, and C6000
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`including, for example, the Cohesity DataPlatform software suite and related software features,
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`or otherwise supplying such software to its customers for storage in memory on those customers’
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`computer hardware components, (collectively, “the ’671 Accused Products”) in violation of 35
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`U.S.C. §§ 271(a), (b), and (c). The ’671 Accused Products are non-limiting examples identified
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`based on publicly available information, and Commvault reserves the right to identify additional
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`infringing activities, products, and services on the basis of information obtained, for example,
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`during discovery.
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`23.
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`By at least the filing of the Complaint, Commvault has disclosed to Cohesity the
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`existence of the ’671 Patent and identified at least some of Cohesity’s and others’ activities that
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 8 of 28 PageID #: 8
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`infringe at least one claim of the ’671 Patent. Thus, based on this disclosure, Cohesity has
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`knowledge of the ’671 Patent and that its activities infringe the ’671 Patent. Based on
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`Commvault’s disclosures, Cohesity has also known or should have known since at least the filing
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`of the Complaint that its customers, distributors, suppliers, and other purchasers of the ’671
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`Accused Products are infringing the ’671 Patent at least because Cohesity has known that it is
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`infringing the ’671 Patent.
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`24.
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`The ’671 Accused Products meet all the limitations of at least claim 15 of
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`the ’671 Patent in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a).
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`25.
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`For example, computer systems that execute the Cohesity DataPlatform software
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`suite, including Cohesity’s “hyperconverged node” appliances such as the C2300, C2500,
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`C3000, C4000, and C6000, each include a processor configured to execute instructions stored in
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`computer-readable memory.2 Those instructions include the DataPlatform computer-readable
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`software. Cohesity’s DataPlatform and its SpanFS filesystem distributes metadata to other
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`Cohesity nodes within a cluster.3 On information and belief, Cohesity’s DataPlatform software
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`suite analyzes a primary metabase (e.g., Metadata Store) to determine data objects stored within
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`a primary data store (e.g., Data Store) that satisfy a query for a particular version of a requested
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`data object. To identify the secondary data store during replication, for example, the Cohesity
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`DataPlatform software determines the correct target storage location based on metadata to
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`receive the determined data objects to be replicated. Data objects are copied from a primary data
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`2 See, e.g., https://www.cohesity.com/blog/cohesity-unveils-c2300-c2500-data-platforms/;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C3000-Datasheet.pdf;
`cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C4000-Datasheet.pdf;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C6000-Datasheet.pdf.
`3 https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/white-paper/Cohesity-SpanFS-and-SnapTree-
`WP.pdf.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 9 of 28 PageID #: 9
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`store (e.g., data store of the original cluster) to the secondary data store (e.g., target cluster)
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`according to a policy. The metadata store of the secondary data store (e.g., target cluster) is then
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`updated with information describing the copied objects.
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`26.
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`This description is based on publicly available information and a reasonable
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`investigation of the structure and operation of the ’671 Accused Products. Commvault reserves
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`the right to modify this description, including, for example, on the basis of information about
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`the ’671 Accused Products that it obtains during discovery.
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`27.
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`On information and belief, at least as of the date of this Complaint and based on
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`the information set forth herein, Cohesity also actively, knowingly, and intentionally induces
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`infringement of one or more claims of the ’671 Patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) by actively
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`encouraging others to import, make, use, sell, and/or offer to sell in the United States, the ’671
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`Accused Products. Cohesity instructs its customers how to use the DataPlatform software suite
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`to obtain metadata from primary data and replicate this data, whether the DataPlatform suite is
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`installed on Cohesity hardware or a user’s own hardware.
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`28.
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`On information and belief, at least as of the date of this Complaint and based on
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`the information set forth herein, Cohesity further contributes to the infringement of one or more
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`claims of the ’671 Patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271(c) by offering to sell, selling, and/or importing
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`into the United States a component of the ’671 Accused Products, or a material or apparatus for
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`use in practicing a process claimed in the ’671 Patent, that constitutes a material part of the
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`inventions, knowing the same to be especially made or especially adapted for use in an
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`infringement of the ’671 Patent, and is not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable
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`for substantial noninfringing use. In this case, the Cohesity DataPlatform software suite is a
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 10 of 28 PageID #: 10
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`material part of at least the invention of claim 15 of the ’671 Patent for the reasons set forth in
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`paragraph 25, above.
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`29.
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`Cohesity’s infringement has damaged and continues to damage Commvault in an
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`amount yet to be determined, of at least a reasonable royalty and/or the lost profits that
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`Commvault would have made but for Cohesity’s acts of infringement.
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`COUNT II: INFRINGEMENT OF U.S. PATENT NO. 7,840,533
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`30.
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`Commvault incorporates by reference and re-alleges all the foregoing paragraphs
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`of this Complaint as if fully set forth herein.
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`31.
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`U.S. Patent No. 7,840,533 (the “’533 Patent”), entitled “System and Method for
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`Performing an Image Level Snapshot and for Restoring Partial Volume Data,” was duly and
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`legally issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on November 23, 2010. The ‘533 patent
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`is generally directed to systems and methods for performing full and incremental snapshots of an
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`information store and storing the snapshots in secondary storage separate from the information
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`store. Anand Prahlad, David Ngo, Prakash Varadharajan, Rahual Pawar, and Avinash Kumar are
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`the named inventors. Commvault is the original and current owner by assignment of all right,
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`title and interest in the ’533 Patent. A true and correct copy of the ’533 Patent is attached hereto
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`as Exhibit B.
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`32.
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`On information and belief, Cohesity has directly infringed, continues to infringe,
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`and/or, at least as of the date of this Complaint, induces or contributes to the infringement by
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`others of one or more claims of the ’533 Patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale,
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`and/or importing into the United States, without authority or license, for example, the Cohesity
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`“hyperconverged node” appliances such as the C2300, C2500, C3000, C4000, and C6000
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`including, for example, the Cohesity DataProtect and DataPlatform software suites and related
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`software features, including the incremental snapshot functionality and the Volume CBT and
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 11 of 28 PageID #: 11
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`File System CBT software components, or otherwise supplying such software to its customers
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`for storage in memory on those customers’ computer hardware components (collectively,
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`“the ’533 Accused Products”) in violation of 35 U.S.C. §§ 271(a), (b), and (c). The ’533
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`Accused Products are non-limiting examples identified based on publicly available information,
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`and Commvault reserves the right to identify additional infringing activities, products and
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`services on the basis of information obtained, for example, during discovery.
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`33.
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`By at least the filing of the Complaint, Commvault has disclosed to Cohesity the
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`existence of the ’533 Patent and identified at least some of Cohesity’s and others’ activities that
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`infringe at least one claim of the ’533 Patent. Thus, based on this disclosure, Cohesity has
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`knowledge of the ’533 Patent and that its activities infringe the ’533 Patent. Based on
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`Commvault’s disclosures, Cohesity has also known or should have known since at least the filing
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`of the Complaint that its customers, distributors, suppliers, and other purchasers of the ’533
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`Accused Products are infringing the ’533 Patent at least because Cohesity has known that it is
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`infringing the ’533 Patent.
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`34.
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`The ’533 Accused Products meet all the limitations of at least claim 9 of the ’533
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`Patent in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a).
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`35.
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`For example, computer systems that execute the Cohesity DataPlatform software
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`suite, including Cohesity’s “hyperconverged node” appliances such as the C2300, C2500,
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`C3000, C4000, and C6000, each include computer-readable storage media, such as hard disks,
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`solid state drives, flash memory, or random access memory, that carry instructions performed by
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`a processor.4 The Cohesity DataPlatform software is capable of creating snapshots for an
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`4 See, e.g., https://www.cohesity.com/blog/cohesity-unveils-c2300-c2500-data-platforms/;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C3000-Datasheet.pdf;
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 12 of 28 PageID #: 12
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`information store (e.g., a primary storage system or client computer) coupled via a computer
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`network to storage media (e.g., a Cohesity Cluster). For example, the Cohesity DataPlatform
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`provides user-configurable SLA Domains that perform at least a first and second snapshot of
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`data in an information store at a first time and a second time.5 The first snapshot may be a full
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`snapshot that is copied to a first storage medium (e.g., a storage volume on the Cohesity Cluster).
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`After the first snapshot, the Cohesity DataPlatform tracks changes to the data associated with the
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`first snapshot (e.g., using the Volume CBT or File System CBT software modules). The second
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`snapshot may be an incremental snapshot in which the tracked changes and information
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`identifying the location(s) of the changes are copied to a second storage medium (e.g., a storage
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`volume on the Cohesity Cluster).6
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`36.
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`This description is based on publicly available information and a reasonable
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`investigation of the structure and operation of the ’533 Accused Products. Commvault reserves
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`the right to modify this description, including, for example, on the basis of information about
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`the ’533 Accused Products that it obtains during discovery.
`
`37.
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`On information and belief, at least as of the date of this Complaint and based on
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`the information set forth herein, Cohesity also actively, knowingly, and intentionally induces
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`infringement of one or more claims of the ’533 Patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) by actively
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`encouraging others to import, make, use, sell, and/or offer to sell in the United States, the ’533
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`
`
`(. . . continued)
`cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C4000-Datasheet.pdf;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C6000-Datasheet.pdf.
`5 See, e.g., https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/solution-brief/Cohesity-SnapTree-
`Solution-Brief.pdf.
`6 See, e.g., https://www.cohesity.com/press/cohesity-introduces-industrys-first-backup-and-
`recovery-for-popular-modern-workloads-on-one-web-scale-platform/;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/white-
`paper/Cohesity_Data_Protection_White_Paper.pdf.
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`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 13 of 28 PageID #: 13
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`Accused Products. Cohesity instructs its customers how to use the DataPlatform software suite
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`to make and store incremental snapshots, including by installing and using the Volume CBT and
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`File System CBT software modules to track block-level changes between snapshots, whether the
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`DataPlatform suite is installed on Cohesity hardware or a user’s own hardware.
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`38.
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`On information and belief, at least as of the date of this Complaint and based on
`
`the information set forth herein, Cohesity further contributes to the infringement of one or more
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`claims of the ’533 Patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271(c) by offering to sell, selling, and/or importing
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`into the United States a component of the ’533 Accused Products, or a material or apparatus for
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`use in practicing a process claimed in the ’533 Patent, that constitutes a material part of the
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`inventions, knowing the same to be especially made or especially adapted for use in an
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`infringement of the ’533 Patent, and is not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable
`
`for substantial noninfringing use. In this case, the Cohesity DataPlatform software suite is a
`
`material part of at least the invention of claim 9 of the ’533 Patent for the reasons set forth in
`
`paragraph 35, above.
`
`39.
`
`Cohesity’s infringement has damaged and continues to damage Commvault in an
`
`amount yet to be determined, of at least a reasonable royalty and/or the lost profits that
`
`Commvault would have made but for Cohesity’s acts of infringement.
`
`COUNT III: INFRINGEMENT OF U.S. PATENT NO. 8,762,335
`
`40.
`
`Commvault incorporates by reference and re-alleges all the foregoing paragraphs
`
`of this Complaint as if fully set forth herein.
`
`41.
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,762,335 (the “’335 Patent”), entitled “System and Method for
`
`Storage Operation Access Security,” was duly and legally issued by the U.S. Patent and
`
`Trademark Office on June 24, 2014. The ’335 Patent is generally directed to systems and
`
`methods for controlling access to stored data through the use of access policies for data backups
`
`
`
`- 13 -
`
`

`

`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 14 of 28 PageID #: 14
`
`
`
`consistent with those set for the original data. Anand Prahlad and Srinivas Kavuri are the named
`
`inventors. Commvault is the original and current owner by assignment of all right, title and
`
`interest in the ’335 Patent. A true and correct copy of the ’335 Patent is attached hereto as
`
`Exhibit C.
`
`42.
`
`On information and belief, Cohesity has directly infringed, continues to infringe,
`
`and/or, at least as of the date of this Complaint, induces or contributes to the infringement by
`
`others of one or more claims of the ’335 Patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale,
`
`and/or importing into the United States, without authority or license, for example, the Cohesity
`
`“hyperconverged node” appliances such as the C2300, C2500, C3000, C4000, and C6000
`
`including, for example, the Cohesity DataProtect and DataPlatform software suites and related
`
`software features, including the Access Management system, or otherwise supplying such
`
`software to its customers for storage in memory on those customers’ hardware components
`
`(collectively, “the ’335 Accused Products”) in violation of 35 U.S.C. §§ 271(a), (b), and (c).
`
`The ’335 Accused Products are non-limiting examples identified based on publicly available
`
`information, and Commvault reserves the right to identify additional infringing activities,
`
`products and services on the basis of information obtained, for example, during discovery.
`
`43.
`
`By at least the filing of the Complaint, Commvault has disclosed to Cohesity the
`
`existence of the ’335 Patent and identified at least some of Cohesity’s and others’ activities that
`
`infringe at least one claim of the ’335 Patent. Thus, based on this disclosure, Cohesity has
`
`knowledge of the ’335 Patent and that its activities infringe the ’335 Patent. Based on
`
`Commvault’s disclosures, Cohesity has also known or should have known since at least the filing
`
`of the Complaint that its customers, distributors, suppliers, and other purchasers of the ’335
`
`
`
`- 14 -
`
`

`

`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 15 of 28 PageID #: 15
`
`
`
`Accused Products are infringing the ’335 Patent at least because Cohesity has known that it is
`
`infringing the ’335 Patent.
`
`44.
`
`The ’335 Accused Products meet all the limitations of at least claim 9 of the ’335
`
`Patent in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a).
`
`45.
`
`For example, computer systems that execute the Cohesity DataPlatform software
`
`suite, including Cohesity’s “hyperconverged node” appliances such as the C2300, C2500,
`
`C3000, C4000, and C6000, each include a processor configured to execute instructions stored in
`
`computer-readable memory.7 Those instructions include the Cohesity DataPlatform software,
`
`which may be configured to store and manage secondary copies of data files. On information
`
`and belief, the Cohesity DataPlatform software implements an Access Management system that
`
`assigns “roles” corresponding to different access rights to users, groups, or Active Directories
`
`with access to a Cohesity Cluster. By associating a user, group, or Active Directory with one or
`
`more “roles” within the Cohesity Cluster, that user, group, or Active Directory is assigned access
`
`rights for performing storage operations, such as, for example, creating a Clone task or
`
`Projection Job. For example, a user assigned the “Admin” role can create backups and recover
`
`snapshots, among other actions, while a user assigned the “Viewer” role will have read-only
`
`access for workflows pursuant to policies associated with the created Protection Job or Clone
`
`task. On information and belief, when a user seeks to perform a storage operation within the
`
`Cohesity Cluster, the Access Management system within the Cohesity DataPlatform software is
`
`capable of being queried to determine the access rights of the user relating to the requested
`
`
`7 See, e.g., https://www.cohesity.com/blog/cohesity-unveils-c2300-c2500-data-platforms/;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C3000-Datasheet.pdf;
`cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C4000-Datasheet.pdf;
`https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/Cohesity-C6000-Datasheet.pdf.
`
`
`
`- 15 -
`
`

`

`Case 1:20-cv-00525-MN Document 1 Filed 04/21/20 Page 16 of 28 PageID #: 16
`
`
`
`storage operation. When a user has the necessary permissions to perform that operation—e.g., to
`
`run a Protection Job or initiate a Clone task—the Cohesity DataPlatform software causes the
`
`requested backup or restore operation to be performed. On information and belief, the Cohesity
`
`Cluster is further capable of confirming access rights by determining that the requested operation
`
`is performed from one or more computers through which the user, group, or Active Directory has
`
`access, including when access rights are associated with performance of a Protection Job or
`
`Clone task within a given Object or View.
`
`46.
`
`This description is based on publicly available information and a reasonable
`
`investigation of the structure and operation of the ’335 Accused Products. Commvault reserves
`
`the right to modify this description, including, for example, on the basis of information about
`
`the ’335 Accused Products that it obtains during discovery.
`
`47.
`
`On information and belief, at least as of the date of this Complaint and based on
`
`the information set forth herein, Cohesity also actively, knowingly, and intentionally induces
`
`infringement of one or more claims of the ’335 Patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) by actively
`
`encouraging others to import, make, use, sell, and/or offer to sell in the United States, the ’335
`
`Accused Products. Cohesity instructs its customers how to cause the Access Management
`
`system within the DataPlatform software suite to be queried to determine the access rights of a
`
`user and to cause certain data storage operation to be performed, whether the DataPl

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