UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`MARSHALL DIVISION
`
`
`
`LUMINATI NETWORKS LTD.
`
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`TEFINCOM S.A. D/B/A NORDVPN
`
`
`Defendant.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Case No. 2:19-cv-00414-JRG
`
`JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
`
`
`
`
`
`AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT
`
`Plaintiff, Luminati Networks Ltd. (“Luminati” or “Plaintiff”) brings this action under the
`
`patent laws of the United States, Title 35 of the United States Code, and makes the following
`
`allegations against Tefincom S.A. doing business as NordVPN (“NordVPN” or “Defendant”):
`
`THE PARTIES
`
`1.
`
`Plaintiff Luminati is an Israeli company having a principal place of business at 3
`
`Hamahshev St., Netanya 42507, Israel.
`
`2.
`
`Upon information and belief, Defendant NordVPN, is a Panamanian corporation,
`
`organized under the laws of the Republic of Panama. NordVPN’s principal place of business is in
`
`Panama City, Republic of Panama.
`
`3.
`
`Upon information and belief, Defendant has and continues to use, provide, sell, and
`
`offer to sell as well as import into the United States virtual private network (“VPN”) services
`
`(“Accused Instrumentalities”) to customers, including customers located in the United States,
`
`where the Accused Instrumentalities include both a proxy server service with servers located
`
`Data Co Exhibit 1063
`Data Co v. Bright Data
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`

`

`throughout the United States, including Texas, as well as a residential proxy service including such
`
`service that is, for example, implemented via NordVPN’s “SmartPlay” feature (“SmartPlay”) and
`
`“NordVPN Extensions” feature (“NordVPN Extensions”).Upon information and belief, SmartPlay
`
`and NordVPN Extensions include third-party proxy devices located in the United States and Texas
`
`under the control of Defendant. https://nordvpn.com/blog/smartplay-explained/ (Exhibit F);
`
`https://nordvpn.com/servers/usa/ (Exhibit G); https://medium.com/@derek./how-is-nordvpn-
`
`unblocking-disney-6c51045dbc30
`
`(Exhibit H);
`
`and https://nordvpn.com/features/proxy-
`
`extension/ (Exhibit I).
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`4.
`
`This is an action for patent infringement under the patent laws of the United States
`
`of America, 35 U.S.C. § 1, et seq.
`
`5.
`
`This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action under 28 U.S.C.
`
`§§ 1331, 1338, and 1367.
`
`6.
`
`This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant because it, directly or through
`
`its subsidiaries, divisions, groups, distributors, and/or residential proxy partners/suppliers has
`
`sufficient minimum contacts with this forum as a result of business conducted within the State of
`
`Texas, and/or pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(2). On information and belief, Defendant transacts
`
`substantial business in the State of Texas, directly or through agents, including: (i) at least a portion
`
`of the infringement alleged herein, and (ii) regularly does or solicits business in Texas, engages in
`
`other persistent courses of conduct, maintains continuous and systematic contacts within this
`
`Judicial District, purposefully avails itself of the privilege of doing business in Texas, and/or
`
`derives substantial revenue from services provided in Texas. For example, upon information and
`
`belief, Defendant controls software executed on various components located in the United States
`
`2
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`

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`and Texas including Defendant’s servers, client devices of Defendant’s customers (“API”) and
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`proxy client devices (“Proxy Software”) including, for example, through its third-party partners,
`
`which is the subject of infringement alleged herein and is embedded in a number of software
`
`applications, with the software placed into the stream of commerce with the knowledge,
`
`understanding, and/or intention that they be downloaded and executed by servers and client
`
`devices located in the State of Texas. See e.g. https://nordvpn.com/servers/usa/ (Exhibit G);
`
`https://medium.com/@derek./how-is-nordvpn-unblocking-disney-6c51045dbc30
`
`(Exhibit H);
`
`https://nordvpn.com/features/proxy-extension/ (Exhibit I). Upon information and belief, the Proxy
`
`Software effectively turns the client devices on which it is installed into residential proxy devices
`
`that operate as part of the service of residential proxy systems including the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities
`
`offered,
`
`operated
`
`and
`
`provided
`
`by
`
`Defendant.
`
`https://medium.com/@derek./how-is-nordvpn-unblocking-disney-6c51045dbc30 (Exhibit H). As
`
`a further example, on information and belief, Defendant also has customers and proxy servers
`
`located in the United States and the State of Texas that use and are used as part of Defendant’s
`
`proxy
`
`server VPN
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`service which
`
`is part of
`
`the
`
`infringement alleged herein.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/servers/usa/ (Exhibit G); https://nordvpn.com/features/proxy-extension/
`
`(Exhibit I).
`
`7.
`
`Upon information and belief, Defendant owns or controls servers, including but not
`
`limited to servers throughout the United States, including Texas, that are used to implement its
`
`proxy server VPN service. See e.g. Exhibit G. Defendant touts the use of Proxy Software and
`
`their associated residential proxy devices in the United States, as part of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities as shown in the image below. See e.g. Exhibit F. Similarly, Defendant’s
`
`3
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`

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`customers, including upon information and belief customers located in the United States and
`
`Texas, also use software including the API to implement the Accused Instrumentalities.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/servers/usa/ (Exhibit G)
`
`8.
`
`Upon information and belief, residential proxy devices with Defendant’s Proxy
`
`Software are located throughout the United States, including Texas. See e.g. Exhibits F and H.
`
`Defendant touts the use of Proxy Software and their associated residential proxy devices as part of
`
`the Accused Instrumentalities as shown in the image below. Exhibit F.
`
`4
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`

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`Exhibit F.
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`9.
`
`Defendant is subject to this Court’s jurisdiction because it has committed patent
`
`infringement in the State of Texas and this jurisdiction, including for example upon information
`
`5
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`

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`and belief through Defendant’s control and use of servers and API and Proxy Software installed
`
`on residential client devices in the State of Texas. See Exhibits F, H and I.
`
`10.
`
`Following Brunette Machine Works v. Kockum Industries, Inc., 406 U.S. 706
`
`1972), venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391 and 1400(b) at least because,
`
`upon information and belief, Defendant is a foreign entity.
`
`FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
`
`11.
`
`Derry Shribman and Ofer Vilenski are the named inventors of a number of patents,
`
`including U.S. Patent Nos. 10,469,614 (Exhibit A, “’614 Patent”) issued on April 9, 2019,
`
`10,257,319 (Exhibit B, “’319 Patent”) issued on November 5, 2019, U.S. Patent No. 10,484,510
`
`(Exhibit C, “’510 Patent”) issued on November 19, 2019, U.S. Patent No. 10,484,511 (Exhibit D,
`
`“’511 Patent”) issued on November 19, 2019, and U.S. Patent No. 10,637,968 (Exhibit E, “’968
`
`Patent”) (collectively the “Asserted Patents”) issued on April 28, 2020.
`
`12.
`
`The ’319, ’510, ’511, and ’968 Patents are divisionals sharing the same
`
`specification and are titled “System Providing Faster and More Efficient Data Communication.”
`
`The ’614 Patent shares the same inventors with the ’319, ’510, ’511 and ’968 Patents, but has a
`
`different specification and is titled “System and Method for Improving Communications by Using
`
`Intermediate Nodes.” Luminati identifies its patents on its website at https://luminati.io/patent-
`
`marking#system-and-method-for-streaming-content-from-multiple-servers.
`
`13.
`
`Luminati Networks Ltd., previously known as Luminati Ltd., previously known as
`
`Hola Network Ltd. (“Hola”), is the assignee and sole owner of the Asserted Patents and has rights
`
`to past damages.
`
`14.
`
`Luminati provides multiple proxy services including a residential proxy service and
`
`a proxy server service. Luminati provides a cloud service connecting tens of millions of devices
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`6
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`

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`over the Internet through a proxy-based network. Each participating device allows the service to
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`utilize a fraction of that device’s idle time for the network. Luminati also offers a proxy server
`
`service, which includes a number of proxy servers located around the world. Luminati utilizes
`
`these networks to provide proxy-based services to businesses.
`
`15.
`
`Since 2014, Luminati has offered proxy-based services relying on its “Residential
`
`Proxy Network” that practice one or more claims of the Asserted Patents. Luminati permits its
`
`business customers to utilize its residential proxy network to gather data over the Internet using
`
`residential proxy devices from various localities as required by the customers. Because each of
`
`these residential proxy devices has its own residential IP address, web servers receiving requests
`
`from these proxy devices do not recognize such requests as originating from the actual user making
`
`the request. Instead, the server identifies the request as coming from a residential device based
`
`upon the residential IP address of the proxy device. These residential proxy devices provide
`
`businesses with a number of advantages. For example, online retailers may anonymously use these
`
`residential proxy devices to gather information from web servers (such as for comparative pricing),
`
`businesses may utilize these devices to test their web sites from any city in the world, and cyber
`
`security firms may employ these devices to test web sites for malicious code.
`
`16.
`
`Prior to and separate from the technology at issue in this case, Hola provided a VPN
`
`service called HolaVPN. Between November 2015 and June 2018, Hola had a business
`
`relationship with NordVPN as well as a related company called Tesonet, UAB, then branded as
`
`“shader” and since reorganized into a series of related companies – Teso Lt UAB, code200 UAB,
`
`Oxysales UAB, metacluster UAB and Coretech UAB (collectively, “Tesonet”)- which offer a
`
`proxy service under the “Oxylabs” brand. In addition to other individuals, Mr. Tomas Okmanas,
`
`who also uses the alias Tom Okman, served as a representative for both NordVPN and Tesonet.
`
`7
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`

`

`17.
`
`In November 2016, then Chief Executive Officer of Hola Ofer Vilenski contacted
`
`Mr. Okmanas advising Mr. Okmanas of a “software development kit” (“Luminati SDK”)
`
`developed by Luminati to be embedded in applications for the purpose of allowing residential
`
`devices to serve as residential proxy devices in Luminati’s residential proxy network when the
`
`application is implemented on such device. Mr. Vilenski further proposed to Mr. Okmanas that
`
`NordVPN agree to embed the Luminati SDK in its application to support Luminati’s residential
`
`proxy service, which NordVPN declined to do. However, on information and belief, instead of
`
`working with Luminati, Tesonet began to develop a competing residential proxy service by
`
`copying to the best of its ability Luminati’s residential proxy service and SDK based on
`
`information the Tesonet obtained about Luminati’s service and SDK, and this was known to
`
`NordVPN through its shared management with Tesonet.
`
`18.
`
`On May 22, 2017, during a meeting between Ofer Vilenski and Tomas Okmanas,
`
`Mr. Vilenski informed Mr. Okmanas that Luminati had become aware Tesonet was taking
`
`measures to enter the residential proxy business, that Luminati had patents in this field, and that
`
`Mr. Okmanas and his companies including Tesonet should not infringe Luminati’s patents by
`
`providing residential proxy service. Mr. Vilenski sent an email to Mr. Okmanas that same day
`
`confirming the discussion, providing written notice of Luminati patent rights, and confirming that
`
`Luminati would send a follow-up letter further identifying Luminati’s intellectual property in this
`
`field.
`
`19.
`
`On June 1, 2017, outside counsel for Hola sent Mr. Okmanas and copied others at
`
`Tesonet a letter (Exhibit J) identifying Hola patents covering a proprietary claim scope in the field
`
`of peer-to-peer based routing. The identified Hola patents - U.S. Patent Nos. 8,560,604 (“’604
`
`Patent”) and 9,241,044 (“’044 Patent”) – are in the same patent families with the same substantive
`
`8
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`

`

`specifications as the Asserted Patents, with the ’319,’510, ‘511 and ’968 Patents being divisionals
`
`of the ’604 Patent and the ’614 Patent being a divisional of the ’044 Patent.
`
`20.
`
`On February 14, 2018, Luminati sent a second letter to Mr. Okmanas, copying
`
`others at Tesonet including Darius Bereika, upon information and belief CEO of Tesonet and a co-
`
`founder of NordVPN, referencing the June 1, 2017 letter, further informing Mr. Okmanas and
`
`Tesonet of Hola’s name change to Luminati and the issuance of additional patents in the field of
`
`IP VPN services using peer-to-peer technology (Exhibit K). This letter also notified Mr. Okmanas
`
`and Tesonet that products and services offered under Tesonet’s Oxylabs brand infringed the ’044
`
`Patent.
`
`21.
`
`On July 19, 2018, prior to the issuance of the Asserted Patents, Luminati filed a
`
`complaint for infringement of the ‘044 Patent and U.S. Patent No. 9,742,866 against Tesonet in a
`
`patent infringement action in this Court – case no. 2:18-cv-00299 (“Tesonet Action”). Both Tomas
`
`Okmanas and Darius Bereika have been deposed in the Tesonet Action and, upon information and
`
`belief, are aware of the Asserted Patents and patent infringement allegations in the complaint filed
`
`in the Tesonet Action.
`
`22.
`
`Upon information and belief, Defendant offers a VPN service that includes a feature
`
`advertised by Defendant as “SmartPlay.” Exhibit F. SmartPlay is touted as utilizing residential
`
`proxy devices as part of Defendant’s VPN service, allowing the use or residential proxy devices
`
`as part of the network of the Accused Instrumentalities through the implementation of Proxy
`
`Software installed on those devices. Id. Upon information and belief, these residential proxies
`
`have IP addresses that are assigned from a standard Internet Service Provider (ISP) to a homeowner
`
`or other residential or mobile user. Id, see also Exhibit F. Upon information and belief, this
`
`residential proxy network is used to access content over the Internet, wherein that content is
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`9
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`identified by a content identifier. Upon information and belief, the Proxy Software supports the
`
`Accused Instrumentalities. Upon information and belief Defendant has a contractual relationship
`
`with one or more partners giving it control over the Proxy Software located on the residential proxy
`
`devices as it is used in the network of the Accused Instrumentalities. Exhibit F.
`
`
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`10
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`

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`Exhibit F.
`
`Upon information and belief, these residential proxies include residential proxy devices located in
`
`Texas. See Exhibit H.
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`11
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`

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`23.
`
`Defendant’s VPN service also includes proxy servers are also located throughout
`
`the United States,
`
`including upon
`
`information and belief
`
`in Texas.
`
` See e.g.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/servers/usa/ (Exhibit G). Defendant touts the location of its VPN servers
`
`around the world and United States. Id. Defendant’s VPN service includes servers that can
`
`conceal the identity of Defendant’s customers by assigning an IP address to any request from a
`
`customer.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/faq/
`
`24.
`
`Upon
`
`information and belief,
`
`the SmartPlay
`
`feature of
`
`the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities is based upon numerous consumer devices or proxy devices, such as laptops and
`
`cell phones, each of which is a client device identifiable over the Internet by an identifier, such as
`
`(but not limited to) an IP address. Upon information and belief, these client devices become part
`
`of the network through the execution of Proxy Software, such as by implementation of a software
`
`development kit (“SDK”) that is embedded in software applications downloaded on the client
`
`devices. Upon information and belief, these proxy devices are associated with at least an active
`
`state and dormant state. Upon information and belief, when the proxy device meets certain criteria,
`
`including for example sufficient battery power, sufficient available bandwidth, etc., the proxy
`
`device shifts or stays in an active state whereby it makes itself available to serve as a proxy device
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`12
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`in the residential proxy system. However, upon information and belief, when the criteria are not
`
`met, such as for example when the device has low battery power or little available bandwidth, it
`
`enters a dormant state whereby it does not make itself available for use as a proxy device in the
`
`residential proxy service. Upon information and belief, when in the active state these devices send
`
`their identifier to a server, such as a dedicated proxy server of the Accused Instrumentalities or
`
`server of Defendant’s third-party supplier contractually obligated to support the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities, which store these identifiers. Upon information and belief, while in the active
`
`state, these proxy devices remain available to receive requests submitted through the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities and send the requests to a target web server, as well as sending any content
`
`received from the target web server to Defendant’s requesting customer via an intermediary of the
`
`Accused Instrumentalities.
`
`25.
`
`Defendant provides a SmartPlay feature through the Accused Instrumentalities
`
`allowing a NordVPN customer to utilize residential proxy devices in fetching content over the
`
`Internet. Upon information and belief, the Proxy Software installed on the residential proxy
`
`devices causes the devices to perform the steps of at least claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17,
`
`and 29 of the ’614 Patent, claims 1, 17, 24, 25 and 27 of the ’319 Patent, and claims 1, 8, 13, 15,
`
`16, 18, 20, 22, and 23 of the ’510 Patent. This Proxy Software is under the control of Defendant,
`
`either directly or via Defendant’s contractual relationship with its software application partners,
`
`including partners integrating Proxy Software in their applications. As this code is under the
`
`control of Defendant, Defendant causes each of these steps to also be performed. In addition,
`
`given Defendant’s contractual relationship with its customers, the customers’ utilization of
`
`SmartPlay feature of the Accused Instrumentalities also causes each of the claimed steps to be
`
`performed.
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`13
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`26.
`
`Specifically, upon information and belief, Defendant’s SmartPlay feature of the
`
`Accused Instrumentalities comprises numerous proxy devices, each of which is a client device
`
`such as a laptop or smartphone identifiable by its own identifier, such as (but not limited to) an IP
`
`address, with Defendant’s Proxy Software operating on that device. Upon information and belief,
`
`the proxy devices of the Accused Instrumentalities send its identifier to a server of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities, following the proxy device connecting to the Internet and the proxy devices and
`
`server of the Accused Instrumentalities communicate periodically thereafter. Upon information
`
`and belief, each proxy device is associated with a first and second state (“first state” or “second
`
`state”) according to a utilization of a resource, such as for example battery life, bandwidth usage
`
`or a threshold value associated with idleness. Upon information and belief, a periodic or
`
`continuous determination is made whether the device satisfies a criterion for resource utilization,
`
`and based upon that determination, such as for example when a threshold value associated with
`
`idleness is above or below that threshold, shifts the proxy device between a first state or second
`
`state. Upon information and belief, when the criterion is satisfied and the proxy device is in the
`
`first state, the proxy device is responsive to receiving a request from the server of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities. Upon information and belief, the determination of whether the device satisfies a
`
`criterion for resource utilization is made on the proxy device. Upon receiving a request, the proxy
`
`device performs a task. See e.g. Exhibits F and H.
`
`27.
`
`Upon information and belief, having received a request from a server of the
`
`Accused Instrumentalities, the proxy device is used to fetch content identified by a content
`
`identifier over the Internet from a web server, which stores the content. Upon information and
`
`belief, the proxy device fetches content by (a) receiving a content identifier from the server of the
`
`Accused Instrumentalities; (b) sending the content identifier to the web server; (c) receiving the
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`14
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`content from the web server in response to the sending of the content identifier to the web server;
`
`and (d) sending the content to the server of the Accused Instrumentalities. Upon information and
`
`belief, the above steps are executed including, for example, on the proxy device by the Proxy
`
`Software installed on that device, which can be downloaded on that device from servers on the
`
`Internet.
`
`28.
`
`Upon information and belief, the content may include a part or whole files, text,
`
`numbers, audio, voice, multimedia, video, images, music, computer program, or a part or a whole
`
`of a web-site page, including for example content from DisneyPlus. Exhibit H. Upon information
`
`and belief, the content may be identified by a uniform resource locator.
`
`29.
`
`Upon information and belief, web servers are or include Hypertext Transfer
`
`Protocol (HTTP) servers that respond to HTTP requests including both normal HTTP and HTTPS
`
`requests, and the proxy device may send an HTTP request comprising the content identifier to the
`
`web server. Further, upon information and belief, the proxy device may establish Transmission
`
`Control Protocol (TCP) connections with the server of the Accused Instrumentalities and web
`
`server, with the content identifier and content sent over the established TCP connections to and
`
`from the proxy device. Similarly, upon information and belief, the proxy device may establish a
`
`TCP connection with the web server.
`
`30.
`
`Upon information and belief, each proxy device stores, operates or uses a client
`
`operating system including but not limited to a mobile operating system such as Android version
`
`2.2, 2.3, 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, and Microsoft Windows Phone version 7, 8, and 9.
`
`31.
`
`The use of the residential proxy network permits anonymity to NordVPN
`
`customers, such as for engaging in activities like as web crawling, without disclosing its identity
`
`to the targeted web sites.
`
`15
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`

`32.
`
`Defendant also uses proxy servers to provide its VPN service through the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities allowing a NordVPN customer to utilize proxy servers in fetching content over
`
`the Internet. Upon information and belief, software (“Server Software”) installed on servers of the
`
`Accused Instrumentalities causes the servers to perform the steps of at least claims 1, 14, 20, 21,
`
`22, 25, 27, 28, 29 and 30 of the ’511 Patent. This code is under the control of Defendant, either
`
`directly or via Defendant’s contractual relationship with its partners. As this code is under the
`
`control of Defendant, Defendant cause each of these steps to also be performed. In addition, given
`
`Defendant’s contractual relationship with its customers, the customers utilization of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities also causes each of the claimed steps to be performed. Upon information and
`
`belief, client devices, including those controlled by Defendant’s customers, can use the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities to fetch content over the Internet by sending a query to a server of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities. Upon information and belief, this query can comprise a URL corresponding with
`
`a webpage, audio and/or video content stored on a web server.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/features/streaming/
`
`33.
`
`Upon information and belief, the NordVPN proxy server network of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities is based upon a large number of proxy servers located around the World,
`
`including in the United States. See e.g. Exhibit H. Upon information and belief, Defendant’s
`
`proxy servers store a group of IP addresses. Upon information and belief, upon receiving a request
`
`for content from a client device, a server of the Accused Instrumentalities can select an IP address
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`from the group of addresses for sending the request to a web server. As one non-limiting example,
`
`a server can select the IP address of proxy server when employing Defendant’s double VPN
`
`feature.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/features/ease-to-use-custom-software/
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`https://nordvpn.com/faq/
`
`34.
`
`Upon information and belief, as discussed above, in fetching content for the client
`
`device, the server (a) receives a URL from the client device; (b) selects an IP address from a group
`
`of IP addresses stored on the server; (c) sends the URL to a web server using the selected IP
`
`address; (d) receives the requested content from the web server, which can comprise a web page,
`
`audio and/or video content; and (e) sends the content to the client device.
`
`35.
`
`Upon information and belief, the selecting by the server of the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities may be done by a criterion, such as geography. See https://nordvpn.com/servers/.
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`18
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`36.
`
`Upon information and belief, the client device may be addressed by an IP address,
`
`which can be stored on the server.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/features/double-vpn/
`
`37.
`
`Upon information and belief, the server of the Accused Instrumentalities is a
`
`Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) server that communicates on the
`
`Internet with client devices based on TCP/IP protocol. Upon information and belief, this server
`
`stores, operates or uses a server operating system and uses a software application including
`
`instructions to carry out the steps for fetching content as discussed above.
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`38.
`
`Upon information and belief, the web server is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol
`
`(HTTP) server responding to HTTP requests and addressed in the Internet using a web server IP
`
`address.
`
`https://nordvpn.com/servers/
`
`39.
`
`Defendant also uses proxy servers to provide its VPN service through the Accused
`
`Instrumentalities allowing a NordVPN customer to utilize the Accused Instrumentalities in
`
`fetching content over the Internet. Upon information and belief, Defendant controls their customer
`
`client devices through software installed on these devices, including for example, Defendant’s
`
`“NordVPN extensions” API, causing these devices to perform the steps of at least claims 1, 2, 11,
`
`12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 27 and 28 of the ’968 Patent. For example, Defendant instructs its proxy
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`service customers on how they can configure third-party applications including Chrome installed
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`on the client devices to cause these client devices to perform steps of the ’968 Patent. See e.g.
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`Exhibit I. This code is under the control of Defendant, either directly or via Defendant’s contractual
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`relationship with its customers. As this code is under the control of Defendant, Defendant cause
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`each of these steps to also be performed. In addition, given Defendant’s contractual relationship
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`with its customers, Defendant induces the customers to utilize the Accused Instrumentalities to
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`cause each of the claimed steps to be performed. Upon information and belief, client devices,
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`20
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`

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`including those controlled by Defendant’s customers, can use the Accused Instrumentalities to
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`fetch content over the Internet by sending a query to a server of the Accused Instrumentalities. As
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`discussed above, upon information and belief, this query can comprise a URL corresponding with
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`a webpage, audio and/or video content stored on a web server.
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`Exhibit I.
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`40.
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`Upon information and belief, as shown above, the customer client device that
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`fetches content using the proxy service of NordVPN comprises an Hypertext Transfer Protocol
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`(HTTP) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) client for use with a first web server that
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`is a HTTP or HTTPS server that respectively responds to HTTP or HTTPS requests and stores a
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`first content identified by a first content identifier. Upon information and belief, the client device
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`fetches the content from the first web server using a second server distinct from the first web server
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`and identified in the Internet by a second IP address, and for use with a list of IP addresses. As
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`addressed above, upon information and belief, servers of the Accused Instrumentalities store a list
`
`of IP addresses. Upon information and belief, including as described above, the application stored
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`on the client device causes the client device to perform a method that comprises (a) identifying,
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`21
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`by the requesting client device, an HTTP or HTTPS request for the first content; (b) selecting, by
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`the requesting client device, an IP address from the list; (c) sending, by the requesting client device,
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`to the second server using the second IP address over the Internet in response to the identifying
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`and the selecting, the first content identifier and the selected IP address; and (d) receiving, by the
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`requesting client device, over the Internet in response to the sending, from the second server using
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`the selected IP address, the first content. Specifically, as non-limiting examples, the client device
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`may select IP addresses by geographic location or prior use in the case of session IPs.
`
`Exhibit G.
`
`41.
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`Upon information and belief, as discussed above, the selecting by the client device
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`of the Accused Instrumentalities may be based for example on the location of the IP address, or
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`prior use of the IP address in the case of session control. Upon information and belief, as discussed
`
`22
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`

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`above, each of the IP addresses in the list is associated with a geographical location and the
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`selecting can be based on geographical selection.
`
`Exhibit G.
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`23
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`

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`42.
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`Upon information and belief, the client device includes a web/Internet browser
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`application or an email application and a driver installed on the client device intercepts the request
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`for the first content from the web browser application or email application.
`
`Exhibit G.
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`43.
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`Upon information and belief, the client device is identified by a Media Access
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`Control (MAC) address or a hostname and sends a message to the second server comprising the
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`client device’s IP address, MAC address, or hostname.
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`https://support.nordvpn.com/General-info/SmartDNS/1161156142/What-is-SmartDNS.htm
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`COUNT I
`(Infringement of the ’614 Patent)
`
`44.
`
`Luminati repeats and re-alleges the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-43 of this
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`Complaint as if fully set forth herein.
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`45.
`
`The ’614 Patent entitled “System and Method for Improving Internet
`
`Communication by Using Intermediate Nodes” was duly and legally issued by the U.S. Patent and
`
`Trademark Office on November 5, 2019, from Application No. 16/214,433 filed on December 10,
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`24
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`

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`2018, a continuation of Application No. 16/140,785 which is a continuation of application No.
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`15/663,762, which is a continuation of application No. 14/930,894, now Pat. No. 9,742,866 (“’866
`
`Patent”), which is a divisional of application No. 14/468,836, now Pat. No. 9,241,044 (“’044
`
`Patent”), all of which claim priority to provisional applications 61/870,815 filed on August 28,
`
`2013. A true and accurate copy of the ’614 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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`46.
`
`Each and every claim of the ’614 Patent is valid and enforceable, and each enjoys
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`a statutory presumption of validity under 35 U.S.C. § 282.
`
`47.
`
`48.
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`Luminati is the sole owner of the ’614 Patent and has rights to past damages.
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`Independent Claim 1 of the ’614 Patent recites:
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`A method for use with a resource associated with a criterion in a client device that
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`communicates with a first server over the Internet, the client device is identified in the Internet
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`using a first identifier and is associated with first and second state according to a utilization of the
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`resource, the method comprising:
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`initiating, by the client device, communication with the first server over the Internet in
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`response to connecting to the Internet, the communication comprises sending, by
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`the client device, the first identifier to the first server over the Internet;
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`when connected to the Internet, periodically or continuously determining whether the
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`resource utilization satisfies the criterion;
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`responsive to the determining that the utilization of the resource satisfies the criterion,
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`shifting to the first s